[imagesource: Kena Betancur / Getty Images]

When I see an all you can eat restaurant buffet, I generally consider it a challenge to try and eat as much as humanly possible.

I shall rethink my stance, given the tricky situation so many restaurants find themselves in at present, but I can’t be the only person who considers such an offering akin to waving a red cloth in front of a bull.

If you happen to have a certain Joey Chestnut visit your establishment, you will certainly rue what comes next, with the reigning Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion having gobbled up 75 hot dogs in 10 minutes earlier this month.

Look at him go:

Yes, that’s ESPN with live commentary. Just fantastic.

So what does Joey have to do with the fabled four-minute mile, once hailed as an athletic mark that would never be achieved, before Roger Bannister cemented his place in history? Well, scientists have recently worked out that Joey’s total of 75 in 10 minutes is only nine short of the limits of what is humanly possible.

Must make a nice change from trying to find a cure for COVID-19.

Here’s the Guardian:

James Smoliga, a sports medicine specialist at High Point University in North Carolina who authored the research, described 84 hotdogs as “the maximum possible limit for a Usain Bolt-type performance”.

The analysis is based on 39 years of historical data from Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual spectacle of gluttony held on Coney Island, New York, combined with the latest sports science theory, which uses mathematical modelling to project trends in performance.

Hotdog composition and size have, reportedly, remained unchanged at Nathan’s Famous in the fast food company’s 104-year history, allowing for valid comparison between competitors across years.

Using what is called a sigmoidal curve, which features an initial slow and steady rise, and then an era of rapid improvement, before ending with a levelling off, Smolia says that hot dog eating has reached the second plateau.

When you consider that the competition’s first-ever winner managed just nine-and-a-half hotdogs in 10 minutes back in 1984, it’s clear how far those seeking the title have come.

Athletes (I guess we can use that word) now spend months training, and claiming top spot has huge financial windfalls. CNBC spoke with Chestnut about how, and why, he prepares so intensely:

While the top prize for a Nathan’s Hot Dog contest is typically about $10,000, according to Chestnut, he makes around $300,000 a year through private and public companies, who hire him to break food records with their products on social media…

For the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog competition, Chestnut said he typically trains for three months straight, starting at the end of April with weekly practice runs on either a Saturday or a Sunday, followed by a few recovery days…

Image: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

After practice runs, Chestnut forces himself to eat greens like cucumbers and lettuce to help with digestion. When he starts to feel better after a few days, he drinks only lemon water and coffee in the morning and fasts for a day and half before his next practice run.

He also does yoga, to help him control his breathing during competitions, and keeps a journal of everything he eats and drinks to see how it affects his body.

Given his clearly competitive streak, I reckon Joey will be aiming for 84 in next year’s event, and you’d back him to at least get close.

Back to the study, and a look at the only way that Smoliga reckons someone could smash 85 or more:

The prediction should hold true, Smoliga said, unless a “new kind of competitor” shows up – someone with gigantism or a metabolic condition that placed them well outside the normal parameters of human biology.

The limiting factor is likely to be chewing and swallowing rather than gastric capacity, based on the observation that at the end of the 10 minutes many competitors are still trying to gobble down more sausages and buns.

I’m not sure if doping is allowed in the world of competitive hot dog eating, but I’m all for someone pushing the limits.

Until such a time, Joey remains the man to beat.

[sources:guardian&cnbc]