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Inside Crazy Legs Conti's training camp

By Justin Rocket Silverman, amNewYork Staff Writer | jsilverman@am-ny.com

June 29, 2007

The centerpiece of Crazy Legs Conti's cramped East Village kitchen is not a dining table or oversized refrigerator.

It's a hot dog grill, installed for the same reason one might install a home gym.

With the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest just days away, Conti, who is the 11th-ranked competitive eater worldwide, is deep into the training needed to consume dozens of dogs in the competition's 12 minutes.

"The secret is mind over stomach matter," he says. "Your stomach can get full, but your mind never can."

In a focused study of the most efficient way to get down dog and bun, Conti and his roommate, Tim "Eater X" Janus (who is also competing on July 4), have deconstructed the sport down to the minute.

The eight-minute mark, they believe, is the turning point of competition. That's when the nitrates from the dogs hit the body's digestive enzymes, and eaters break out in the "meat sweats."

"Those last four minutes are when you've really got to make your move," says Conti, 36, whose path from a high-rise window washer to gastrointestinal gladiator is documented in the new film, "Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating."

"You can't hang your hat on one food group, you have to be a cross-discipline athlete," Conti says, referring to his eating titles in corn on the cob (34 ears in 12 minutes), potato chips (4 pounds in 4 minutes), oysters (168 in 10 minutes) and string beans (2.71 pounds in 6 minutes).

Conti is no stranger to athletics, and played on three college varsity teams. But, as he puts it, "I was always better at the pre-game meal than the sport itself."

Since then he has found his true physical calling, as the trophies packed into his apartment demonstrate.

"Everyone eats breakfast, lunch and dinner," he says. "They are just not eating it at the professional level.

"If you can afford lunch, you can begin training to be a major league eater."