<p>Joey Chestnut: Nathan’s Hot Dog Champion 2009: Pics, Videos, Links, News Joey Chestnut, 25, winns the Nathans hot dog eating contest at Coney Island for the 3rd year in a row-- downing one every 9 seconds. How does one train for that?? And he is so skinny…</p>
<p>He has probably shortened his life by a good 30 years</p>
<p>Competitive eating training is something that really varies by person. I definitely know that they make sure to work on eating techniques, such as splitting the dogs, dipping into water, or eating buns and dogs separately, etc., and working to strengthen their jaws so they experience minimal chewing fatigue during competition.</p>
<p>Also, I know that a lot of these competitors are actually really concerned with personal fitness, and other than these competition binges, try to maintain more balanced diets and work on stretching stomach capacity by such methods as drinking large quantities of water. It’s actually really advantageous for competitors to be skinny, so many of them do extensive running and training, because having excess fat around the waist limits abdominal capacity. I think the specific competitive eater I’m thinking of here goes by Moses. (One of my random obsessive phases was competitive eating, so I watched and read a lot about it, but it was a few years ago so the details may be a little off/fuzzy.)</p>
<p>Of course, there are some competitive eaters who just eat and eat with no regard to health, or were born with very inefficient metabolic processes that prevent them from absorbing a lot of the calories they consume, therefore staying thin. For others, however, there really is serious training going on, as well as concern for personal wellness.</p>
<p>Maybe it could be packaged as an EC, if it was part of a larger context such as fitness, a science project involving training, calories, physiology of recovery, etc., entering hot dog eating contests to win prize money for a charity (in memory of a frankfurter-loving family member or a beloved local hot dog stand in danger of losing their zoning), or entering hot dog eating contests to raise awareness about some issue in the food industry.</p>
<p>It could be considered an EC, but not one that is likely to impress admissions officers in a good way.</p>
<p>Yes, it is an EC in itself. Brings to mind competitive drinking so I’m not sure it would help one’s app without being linked to other activities.</p>
<p>It really annoys me that this depraved activity has been elevated from a curiosity to a highly publicized “spectator sport.”</p>
<p>I think it would be an EC. If nothing else, it would make an unusual topic for an essay.</p>
<p>EC? Sounds like a regional award to me. :D</p>