What Clayton does to prepare for a tournament:

Cardiovascular training

• I get into better cardiovascular shape by excersising. Having good cardiovascular health will help you focus on strategy rather than trying to catch your breath. To make my lungs stronger, I exercise. When walking, I like to go back and forth between walking fast and then joging slowly. By doing this, I keep my heart rate high enough to be in the fat burning zone.

Weight Loss to keep in the lowest category

• Losing water weight is fast and I have two effective ways, but losing fat requires hard work. Fat reduction that has worked for me in the past is by: ensuring that my daily calorie intake is always less than my calories burned. I use a calorie counter on my cell phone to count my calories I burn.
• Weight loss of water can be done prior to weigh ins by either sitting in a sauna to sweat out the water or soaking in a hot water bath tub.
• I have lost up to 8.8 lbs of water weight prior to a big tournament using the hot water soak method.

Table practice is best:

• Getting armwrestling table time and practicing with another person whenever possible is key. Go through the exact move from neutral to a winning finish position. If available, ask a third person to act as a mock referee, set up the arms fairly and straight and call the referee start each match. Go back and forth being the aggessor. When you are the aggressor, have your training partner give only 60% resistance so you can practice the exact move to win. Be offensive 5 times in a row and then let your training partner be offensive 5 times. Whenever possible, I like to practice five things: 1 - hook, 2 - top-roll, 3 - side pressure, and 4 - pulling straight down. 5 - use straps whenever possible and you will get stronger at whatever move you practice in the strap.
• Use all table rules whenever possible and call fouls as they happen. Keep it as real as possible.
• Practice starts and being fast. Speed can come from natural reflex speed or good timing.