Here's How Joey Chestnut Trains For Competitive Eating Contests

Competitive eater Joey Chestnut is a man who's not afraid of pushing his limits. According to Major League Eating, Chestnut is extraordinary and has been blessed with the talent required to overcome the fiercest competitors. His turning point was triumphing over Kobayashi in 2007 at a hot dog-eating championship. This was followed by an impressive victory run and Chestnut went on to win many awards for eight years. What's more, he can competitively eat all kinds of food, including chicken wings. It's safe to say that his appetite is legendary.

Chestnut is no stranger to his talent. A description on his site explains it best. It reads, "Joey Chestnut is the world's greatest eater. This is not an opinion but a statement of fact. He holds more competitive eating records than any other athlete in history, by a wide margin." Wow.

Interestingly, Chestnut didn't plan on doing this for a living and studied engineering in college. He attempted his first competitive eating challenge at the age of 21, unsure of what to expect. Luckily, he was made for this and it didn't take him long to make his presence felt in the contest. One of his most cherished achievements? Winning the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York 11 times in 12 years, scarfing down Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs in just 10 minutes.

Make no mistake: Training like Joey Chestnut takes some skills. As per CNBC, the competitive eater starts training for three or four months in a row to prepare for a contest. He makes sure to include recovery days to help his body cope. He said, "After the first practice, [recovery] is the hardest [because] my body is getting back to digesting that ridiculous amount of food." Of course.

Between his practice days, he takes breaks to feast on healthy options such as cucumber and lettuce to help with digestion. He also experiments to see how his body reacts and adapts. He said, "It [is] sort of trial and error. I definitely try to solve everything like its a problem." It also helps that Chestnut focuses on running and practicing yoga during practice runs. And obviously, most eating competitions do leave a toll on his body and leave him feeling extremely exhausted. Respect.