Japanese competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi, who recently profiled on ESPN’s 30 For 30 documentary series, recently spoke with uSports about his training techniques and his world records. He stars ESPN’s latest installment, The Good, the Bad, and the Hungry. Kobayashi explained his backstory, along with some insiders about what goes into his competitions, training and Guinness World Records.

“I start to drink water to expand my stomach right before the competition, I can drink three gallons in 90 seconds,” he said. “By that time, I know I’m ready. Leading to the competition, I’m training with water to slowly expand, but right before the competition, if it’s a hot dog competition, right before it i will try that food to see how it feels.”