--- title: Watch: How to Eat 15 Pounds of Hot Dogs | TIME description: On the eve of the 2008 Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating contest, champ Joey Chestnut gave TIME’s Sean Gregory a few pointers canonical: https://time.com/video/enqThFHQ/ og:title: Watch: How to Eat 15 Pounds of Hot Dogs og:description: On the eve of the 2008 Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating contest, champ Joey Chestnut gave TIME’s Sean Gregory a few pointers og:url: https://time.com/video/enqThFHQ/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/enqThFHQ/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch: How to Eat 15 Pounds of Hot Dogs twitter:description: On the eve of the 2008 Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating contest, champ Joey Chestnut gave TIME’s Sean Gregory a few pointers twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/enqThFHQ/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Watch: How to Eat 15 Pounds of Hot Dogs > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Watch: How to Eat 15 Pounds of Hot Dogs [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: How to Eat 15 Pounds of Hot Dogs](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/enqThFHQ.m3u8) (3:50)  _Published 2008-07-03. On the eve of the 2008 Nathan’s Famous hot-dog eating contest, champ Joey Chestnut gave TIME’s Sean Gregory a few pointers_ --- Jul 27, 2023 12:54 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Joey Chestnut Takes 11th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Crown](/video/6daAazXI/) ### Joey Chestnut Takes 11th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Crown [Joey Chestnut and Hot Dogs: By the Numbers](/video/OZYEM3Ch/) ### Joey Chestnut and Hot Dogs: By the Numbers [Contestants Prepare for Nathan's 98th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest](/video/03RYJ4FF/) ### Contestants Prepare for Nathan's 98th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest --- ## Transcript >> Basically I always, still follow the same format. I eat 2 pieces of meat at one time. >> Last year, America, Joey Chestnut won the Nathan's famous Fourth of July International Hotdog Eating Contest. >> Somehow it makes it so stagy near my stomach. >> Right. >> I'm gonna dunk the bun in water. >> He beat the reigning champ, the Japanese competitive eater Kobayashi by swallowing 66 hotdogs, buns included in 12 minutes, a new world record. >> This year it's gonna be a 10- minute contest. >> Okay. So what's the world record for 10 minutes? >> 43. >> 43. >> We're gonna easily blow by that. >> You'll easily blow by that. Can you guarantee that? Are you saying you're gonna do it? >> I would definitely gonna go by 43. >> Man, all right. It's like Joey, he's staying-- he's going for the big one. A few days before he defends his title in the Independence Day event, he dropped by Nathan's in midtown Manhattan to give us an insider's take on competitive eating. >> You must have some kind of weird metabolism gene. >> Oh. >> Do you think this is all your hard work and dedication? >> I think initially because I grew in a big family-- >> Okay. >> Competitive brothers, I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. >> Did you guys have eating contests then? >> I mean every dinner with a bunch of brothers were eating contest. >> With a table full of hotdogs and an EMT on hand, Joey showed me how it's done. >> The most important thing with competitive eating is you'll be able to get your body to a rhythm. The same way you're running or a swimmer, once you can control your breathing and make all the muscle work together for the common goal. >> Right. >> You get all the food down. >> So when I'm eating and I'm about to get sick-- >> The universal sign of choking. >> Right. >> You give me that sign, I'm there for you. I'll perform the Heimlich. >> So once I give this is the key. >> Yes. That's the key. >> Santiago, any other surprises, anything you're looking forward to here? >> Well, I'm expecting a lot of vomit. >> Now if you're doing it one at a time or split in two? >> Split in two. >> Okay. >> And put it together and put it in your mouth. Come on. Now you gotta start swallowing it. See that just bun in the water. We gotta pretend the bun is water. You just swallow it whole. >> If the bun is wet enough. >> Right. >> Man. How long was that? >> About a minute. >> Oh. >> Uh oh. >> Hey. Well, they're good. >> I don't know why I gotta do this. >> 3, 2, 1, go. >> You do. Bang. >> Stop. >> All right. >> Just make it ugly. >> All right. >> All right. >> Ready? 2, 1, go. >> You're looking good. You're moving around. Tilt your head back and swallow. You can put all that in there one time. >> Done. >> About the same the last time. >> A minute and 10 seconds. >> Oh. >> Now are you a pro? Do you make your living off this? I mean-- >> No. I work for a construction company as a project engineer. >> Okay. >> And this is my weekend hobby that I've just been taken by it. >> After a competition what's kind of your post- game routine? >> After the contest the first thing I do is fall asleep. >> Right. >> 3 hours later, I will go to the bathroom. Sometimes it's all natural. Sometimes with a rush. >> Right. >> Usually I'm all right. My body has just built a tolerance. >> Well, there it is. I mean blood, sweat, and tears of Joey Chestnut, the 2007 Hotdog Champion. You're guaranteeing a victory tomorrow. >> No. That'd be ridiculous. 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