Practice Makes Perfect in Competitive Eating
There are a lot out there that really don’t understand how much practice plays in a competitors ability to win. Before any of these people end up at a competition, they try to know exactly what they’re eating and how they’re going to eat it. It’s never on the fly, it’s always planned out before hand.
Size, Density, and Technique
Most competition won’t tell you the exact size of what you’re eating. It is pretty easy with something like a hot dog because they’re generally the same size. If a competitor doesn’t know how big it is, they’ll try to mimic what they think it’ll be. A prime example of this is with meatball eating competitions. No competitor is going to know the exact size or density of these meatballs, so they literally have to guess and practice for a wide range of them.
By knowing the size and density, you’ll need to develop a technique of eating them. The key to any successful run is holding a consistent pace. Often you’ll see people taking in two hot dogs and buns at the same time. The reason is that their mouth is big enough and by the time they chomp on it a few times there’s enough room for it to go down their throat.
Maximizing the input of food is probably the toughest part of all the training people will do. Anything less than what you can possibly do is a loss in productivity. This is a sport that comes down to very short 10-12 minute spurts, so a competitor has to be able to get the maximum out of themselves for that short period of time.
I hope this helps you. Remember that practice makes perfect, so grab the food you’re going to be eating and work to make it as productive as possible.