Competitive Eating Training

I was actually was looking for a movie to watch at a local video store when I came across this: Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating. I thought it was an odd item to find in a movie store, but being a competitive eating fan I had to really get and see what it was like. I have to say that it was actually quite funny and interesting. I think it gives you a bit of a look into the world of eating competitions and what you have to do if you plan to get involved.

I guess the real question is who is this “Crazy Legs Conti”? Well, he is described as a window washer, nude model, sperm donor and a huge fan of hot dog eating competitions. But basically this movie follows Crazy Legs around as he decides to dedicate himself to this fine sport. He actually travels across the country talking to people and other competitors about it. He works on his competitive eating techniques to make sure that he’s at the top of his game. Basically he’s trying to get the Zen like focus that you need to beat the Japanese super power Takeru Kobayashi. Hence the name of the movie “Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating”.

It really contains all the important parts of competitive eating that you’re going to see. And that includes all the funny stuff, the training, the eating and the people you’re going up against. I thought this movie gave a pretty fair look into this world and I knew my readers would probably get a kick out of it too. Just click on the link below to learn more about this great movie.

Click here for the Crazy Legs Conti Movie

This is a great 10 minute video from Pat Bertoletti on his training methods for a waffle eating competition. Here is what I want you to take from this… he says it’s mental. That’s the truth. Everything in life is mental. Enjoy the video.

I think, or at least hope, that everyone recognizes that flow (with eating) is probably about the most important part of competitive eating. The concept here is that you’re shoving more food in your mouth just as the space becomes available. That means there needs to be a consistent flow of food coming into your mouth, chewed and swallowed. This is an art that is very hard to perfect and it changes with the food you inevitably end up eating.

Here is the only way:

Practice

I wish I could tell you that there is a method that you can follow that will break everything down into a step-by-step manner, but there isn’t. Everyone is different; you eat different, you chew different, you even swallow different. The only way to figure out how to get flow with your eating patterns is practice.

There are a few things that I can tell you that should help you out though.

You Should Be Counting

The last thing you want on your mind is that you’re eating. You want to get into a flow, so everything needs to be performing up to a specific standard (IE: speed). I have found that everything basically comes down to your chewing speed. Obviously you can’t chew over 20 times for this competition, but counting your chewing is the pace.

A drummer will tape his sticks together to set the pace and so will your chewing…

“1… 2… 3… 4… 5…” *insert hotdog* “1… 2… 3… 4… 5…” *insert hotdog*

This is how a pace is created and you do it through your chewing patterns. In the above example you take five chomps, swallow and insert more food in. You’re no thinking about what you’re eating or how much you got in. All you’re doing is counting. “1… 2… 3… 4… 5…”

All of you know that I take my training very seriously, if you want to win that is. Sometimes I feel that people go overboard with the whole thing. It’s important to note that a lot of competitive eating training isn’t exactly the most natural thing you could do to your body.

I think a lot about training methods can be learn by simply observing the work ethic of a bodybuilder. Their training methods are in the busness of destroying their muscles, so their body rebuilds it with larger fiber. That is how they put on muscle.

Bodybuilders recognize the fact that you can’t just beat up on your body endlessly and expect good results.

There are two reasons why you should be taking a 7 day break:

1. Recovery

2. Energize

There is a point where your body has to recover from the training methods you implement for a competition. If you go into the competition without giving yourself the time to recover from what you’re doing, you’ll go in with a much lower state.

Other people, like me, just lose a lot of our amibition when we’re training. It isn’t enjoyable and you’ll find that there is a point where you’re not progressing anymore. When you take a break, you’ll come back with much more energy and a fire to win.

Take a break sometimes, it helps.

I thought it was about time that I shared with you the top 5 reasons that you will fail at a competitive eating competition. I like to orient informationlike this because it can really help you understand the fundamentals of successful eating.

1. You Think Liking To Eat = Good At Eating Competitions

I think this is the biggest mistake people make when it comes to competitive eating. I know this is about eating food, but liking to eat food doesn’t mean you’re going to be any good at it. It has been proven over and over again that skinny people tend to do far better in the competitions.

This is more about your ability to eat a huge sum of food in a very short period of time. That requires methods of fast consumption and maximum storing capacity.

2. You Don’t Treat This As A Serious Sport

I know that it can be very easy to view this as just some event that you would do at a carnival for fun, but the competitors you face are training. Just because you aren’t lifting weights are doing laps around the track doesn’t mean this isn’t a sport that requires training.

3. You Don’t Train Properly

The only way you can properly train for any event, you have to identify exactly what you’re eating. If you’re going into a hotdog competition, than you just can’t grab any hotdog from the store and start practicing with it. You need the exact size and the exact weight of hotdogs to train.

Typically events will be sponsored by the very food you’ll be eating, so it shouldn’t be hard to track down exactly what you’re expected to eat.

4. You Lack Mental Toughness

You’re going to feel things that you know you have to ignore. You just have to tell yourself that you’re going to keep going and that is all there is to it.

5. You’re Not Systematic

If you look at all the successful competitors out there for any competition, they’re all systematic. That means that they eat in a very continuous fashion. They’re putting food into their mouth, just as they finish swallowing some. Basically their comsumption of food is consistent. You can’t rush at the start and slow down. You have to consistently do the entire competition, just as a marathon runner goes consistently.

Well, I was pretty happy to see that a 61 year old man 14th World Pie Eating Contest.  Fred Wyatt was able to finish his pie in only 56.28 seconds knocking off the competition.

Now what interests me here is that a lot of the issues you’ll have with competitive eating will be mental. You’re going to have these mental barriers that are up and ready to crush you. I don’t think people really understand how statements like “you can’t do it”, “you’re too old”, “it’s impossible” are quite powerful. When you have these barriers you just don’t beat them. You don’t understand the profound effect over yourself until someone smashes through the barrier.

I think the most famous example was the 100 meter dash. Experts were saying that a runner getting under 10 seconds was just physically impossible. People believed this and therefore no one would ever get under the 10 second mark. Years went by with this barrier in the way. Than one year a guy broke. Guess how many other people broke the 10 second barrier within a year – well over 50 athletes.

Mental barriers are powerful and I hope this article shows you that it doesn’t matter how old you are, what shape your in, or whatever. Once you’re ready to eat, you can win.

I wanted to take the time to share with you a few tips for training for competitive eating. This is a new sport at its infancy. All the techniques that we are learning today might not be around tomorrow because we are just starting to learn how to be good at this sport. All the other sports out there have something in the past that was sort of similar, but this is the unique one. This is the one where no bodies enter the contests and blow away the competition. These tips for training for competitive eating are going to blow you away.

Breath

With all the eating that is going on, you might forget to breath. Believe me, it happens. You get so focused on what you’re doing that you just don’t breath and that causes problems. The problem isn’t that you’ll pass out because your brain will have you take in breaths automatically, but there is some more important reasons.

When you start lacking oxygen, you don’t think straight and you sort of panic. The cool and calm is what is going to help you win a competition and if you’re getting into a panic and not thinking straight, you’re more likely to screw up and lose. Always remember to breath.

Can You Meditate

This may seem like an odd point to bring up, but concentration is key to winning. You literally have to go into your own little world during the contest. Meditation is like a type of training that helps you focus on just one thing.

You’re going to be elbow to elbow with other contestants, a cheering crowd and whatever other distractions that may arise. Your focus has to be razor sharp on what you’re doing and if you can’t produce that focus – you will lose. This is why I always recommend that people learn meditation because it will teach you to focus and block out all the distractions.

Competitive food eating is quite a new sport and it is amazing to watch it. The reason I’m so interested in it is due to the fact that there is so little known about it. All the other sports out there have a million different training methods and strategies that have existed for along time, yet this is something new. All the training that is being followed has never been done before. And for this reason there isn’t any resources out there to help people.

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

When you are in a competition, you need to pace yourself. This is something that you can take from long distance runners. What long distance runners do is set a pace they can maintain for the entire length of the race. You’ll notice that the racers that jump out to an early lead will often fade latter in the race and the reason is that they can’t remain consistent with the pace.

When you’re eating, during the contest, you need to keep consistent. You need to follow a pace that you can follow until the end. If you go super fast at first, you’re more likely to fade later and the consistent competitor will pace past you.

Practice Makes Perfect

You have to practice to learn how to do it right. Most of us know how to eat a hot dog, but most of us don’t know how to eat a hot dog is the fastest and most efficient manner. There isn’t a textbook out there to teach you how to eat a hot dog efficiently. You just have to cook up a bunch of hot dogs, put them in your mouth and see what happens. Practice, Practice and Practice some more.

These are some of my competitive food eating tips that you might find useful. I hope to have some more in the future for you, that might help you out.

I wanted to share with you some competitive eating tips that can really help you develop as an athlete in this sport. Tips are hard to come by because there simply isn’t that much knowledge available to the general public. This is still a sport that is pretty taboo and most people don’t care. The good news is that I have some competitive eating tips to help you out.

1. Consistent Pace over Speed

When you’re in a competition, you want to eat fast. You want to stuff all that food in your mouth as fast as you can, so you can win. The problem is that if you go to fast you’ll choke, but not only that, if you go to fast, you’ll eventually lose pace.

It’s sort of like marathon runners. They don’t burst out of the starting gates. They pace themselves. They know that it is much easier to be consistent, than it is to go super fast.

That’s basically what you want to do. Have food coming in your mouth at a pace that you can sustain for the entire time. That will work the best.

2. Practice With Proper Food

If you’re going in a meatball competition, eat meatballs. If you’re going in a hot dog competition, eat hot dogs. The point is that you need to practice with what you’re going to eat. It has to be a constant thing, so you understand exactly how to eat a food.

3. Experiment

Eat the food you’re going to be competing with, but experiment with the eating process. Try something. Try eating two hot dogs at the same time. You might surprise yourself and realize that you can take advantage this and help you win the contest.

Competitive eating is extremely new and I believe it hasn’t evolved to the best methods of eating. That means there is a lot of room for innovation and you can win if you just take the time to experiment.

I hope these competitive eating tips help you out. I know they have for me.

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.