Shaun White’s New Approach to Training

Curious what the world’s best halfpipe snowboarder has been doing to up his game? Shaun White‘s been spending less time on the hill and spending more time focusing on himself as whole — granted, the time he does spend riding is at a private location.

Shaun White blasting a method on the first hit.

The guys over at OlympicTalk recently caught up with the famed snowboarder to talk about all things White. From his thoughts on stretching to his rationale behind spending less hours on the hill, his band “Bad Things” as well as who he expects to be his top competition at the Sochi Games in both halfpipe and slopestyle.

Below is a short excerpt, but for the complete story visit the post at OlympicTalk.NBCSports.com.

Halfpipe’s Olympic history spans four Games, but White is still approaching unchartered territory in a sport he’s defined for about a decade.

“I used to go up and ride all day long,” he said. “I just don’t do it anymore. I really show up, I do a couple runs and that’s the best I’m going to be all day, and I slowly get worse.

“I ride my heart out for about two hours, and then I leave. That’s probably why you see me do so many other things off the hill because I realize that once those two hours are up, I’ve got to fill my time with something else.”

That includes his band, Bad Things. In August, the guitarist said he would probably do shows between when their debut album came out Oct. 29 and the Olympics.