Three-time Olympic Gold medalist Shaun White takes us through the contents of his fully stocked fridge, shares what his current diet consists of and even spills on his legendary snowboarding career. Plus, the gives us a look into his home workout routine while traveling.
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00:00 Hey Sean, it's Men's Health.
00:02 Hey, what's up? Men's Health.
00:04 Come on in. You must be here to see my gym and fridge.
00:10 Alright, welcome to my kitchen. Let's check out the fridge.
00:18 Let's see, let's see.
00:20 What staples do you always have in your fridge?
00:22 I'd say the staples for me are fresh fruit. I love having fruit around.
00:26 I think I get a bit of a sweet tooth, so this kind of handles that without having a candy bar or something.
00:31 But I also do a lot of smoothies, so I got fresh berries, I got blueberries. Not at all.
00:38 How has your diet changed over the years?
00:40 I feel like I've gotten healthier over time. I really didn't pay attention to what I ate when I was younger.
00:45 And to be honest, I'd actually kind of go on diets after the Olympics,
00:49 because they'd always ask me to take my shirt off for magazine shoots and stuff.
00:55 And I'd be like, "Hey, I'm so pale. I snowboard. I'm just covered in the mountains."
01:01 But anyway, so now that I'm a bit older, I really like kind of focusing on what makes me feel the best.
01:06 What would we never see in the fridge?
01:08 I think one thing you'll never really find in my fridge is dairy, like milk.
01:12 My girlfriend can't do dairy or gluten, and so it kind of switched me over to having alternatives for cereal and stuff like that.
01:21 So we have almond milk, oat milk. But I kind of prefer it now. I don't know, I just like it.
01:26 What was your diet like training for the Olympics?
01:28 It was pretty straightforward. I mean, I would just eat pretty light in the mornings,
01:31 just because my job requires me to fly in the air, so having a huge burrito or something doesn't really work with that.
01:37 I will say that before I won the gold in Korea, my breakfast was chocolate cake.
01:43 It was my buddy's birthday, and he's like, "I mean, I got the cake. You want to have some?"
01:48 I'm just like, "Sure." So that's not the norm, but yeah. I don't know, we're snowboarders.
01:54 We kind of eat whatever. We take the chairlift. It's a more relaxed sport.
01:58 Usually before I compete, yeah, it's just something really light. Oatmeal or I'll put like bars in my pockets, something like that.
02:04 What do you eat after the gym?
02:06 Post-workout, I usually just go find a salad somewhere, you know, with rice and veggies and something like that.
02:13 What's your favorite food from childhood?
02:15 My favorite thing from my childhood that I still eat on occasion would be Panda Express.
02:20 It's something about passing it at the airport. It just starts calling to me,
02:24 and I see that glowing orange nuclear chicken there, and I'm like, "Ah, that looks pretty good. I might have to go for a scoop."
02:33 Which Olympic athlete, living or dead, would you love to have a meal with?
02:37 I think Kobe Bryant. I never got a chance to have a meal with him. I think he's a legend, so yeah, Kobe for sure.
02:45 Do you cook?
02:46 I'm an okay cook. I started cooking a lot during the pandemic.
02:50 I can make a few dishes, but I'd say my favorite is any type of Mexican food, tacos or burritos, something like that.
02:55 I actually have my favorite tortillas here. These grain-free tortillas. I still buy these even though I can eat the normal ones.
03:04 They're so good. They've got this sort of chewy, crunchy texture to them.
03:09 But yeah, anything Mexican is my favorite.
03:13 What do you eat for breakfast?
03:14 I used to just pile it on, and nowadays I just do a smoothie. I do this protein mix.
03:20 It's called Cachava. It's really great. And it's plant-based, which normally a lot of the plant-based proteins,
03:27 they just make my stomach churn. And this one's great. I don't have that at all, so I really love this.
03:32 And then I mix it with oatmeal, avocado, banana, some chia seeds and things, and then a little almond butter and almond milk.
03:40 And then I just take it with me for the day.
03:43 Do you drink coffee?
03:44 I don't really drink coffee. I had a spell for a little while where I did, and it just like, I would crash during the day.
03:52 I think things affect me, so when I take a little sip of caffeine, I'm like off to the races.
03:57 But I do a little bit of tea nowadays. I'll do like English breakfast.
04:01 What's your go-to protein?
04:02 It used to be chicken. I love having chicken, but nowadays I do a lot of tofu, things like that.
04:09 What are your favorite comfort foods?
04:10 I mean, I love pizza. I love having pasta and pizza. I don't really see it as a bad thing, though.
04:17 I don't know, it's just bread and cheese and oil and grease. It's so good.
04:25 See, if you tell yourself it's okay, then it's okay.
04:27 You've snowboarded all over the world. Which are your favorite countries for eating?
04:31 Oh my god. I mean, the food in Japan, ramen and the sushi, and they make these curry dishes.
04:39 So I love the food in Japan. And then I would say New Zealand.
04:44 You know what I mean? You ever get a bottle of wine and it's like, "Oh, from New Zealand."
04:47 Or they're like, "Oh, this lamb's from New Zealand."
04:49 I've been there. You see the vineyards. It's just like this beautiful country.
04:54 And the food there is just incredible. So I would say New Zealand.
04:57 And you don't even have to try to be healthy. It just is.
05:01 The eggs are coming from the hen house right there.
05:04 Everything in the U.S. became very popular. Like, "Oh, farm to table." And they're like, "What? What is that?"
05:11 "Oh, no, we've got a farm and then we bring it to the table to cook it."
05:14 And they're like, "This is how we do it here." So I love New Zealand. I love the food.
05:18 What do you order at the bar?
05:20 Currently, I'm ordering soda water with lime. I go on spurts of not drinking.
05:26 I don't know, I've always had this delicate balance with alcohol just because I enjoy it,
05:31 but then I have to compete and my job, I'm flipping and spinning in the air,
05:36 so you can't really be hung over any of those things.
05:38 And then add travel and add press interviews and things, and it just became too much at the time.
05:44 But if I was going to have a drink, it would be maybe like a spicy margarita or a Moscow mule or something.
05:56 But I don't, so. But if I were.
06:00 What are you ordering at a diner?
06:02 Any type of chicken and waffles, like fried chicken. It's definitely my go-to.
06:08 What's your burrito order?
06:10 Ooh, burrito order. Oh my God. I'm the guy that's just trying to fit everything in the burrito.
06:16 They have to use two tortillas to wrap it. I do fajita peppers.
06:20 I go with black beans, brown rice, avocado, and then I dance between whether I want chicken or steak,
06:27 or if they have a kind of plant-based option, I'll go with that.
06:30 But yeah, like the impossible meat or beyond meat.
06:33 All right, that was my fridge. Let's start the workout.
06:36 All right, let's see how you work out.
06:38 So here we are. I'm traveling right now, so I'm just going to show you a little bit of a light workout
06:42 that I do at the house while I'm on the road.
06:44 I start usually with the foam roller. It just loosens up my back and makes it easier for me to be interviewed.
06:51 How has your workout changed over time?
06:54 I started doing it. I remember talking about it in the press when I was younger,
06:59 like, "Oh yeah, yeah, working out." Like, I just didn't do it.
07:03 You know, I was like 15 and I was still winning the events, so I didn't really feel like I needed to have a crazy regimen.
07:10 But I think around 2014 Olympics, I started actually getting into it and working out.
07:16 So after that, it then started to change slightly over the years
07:20 because I found that I needed to be more flexible and light than to be bulky and have, like, kind of muscle mass.
07:28 How often do you snowboard now?
07:30 I snowboard quite a bit now. Just as much as before, but just in a different way.
07:35 You know, that's the fun part. I always joke about having gone to every mountain you can think of,
07:40 but I only know the run that takes you to the half pipe.
07:43 So, like, now in retirement, I want to go back and ride all the runs that I never got to.
07:49 What was it like to have your own private half pipe?
07:52 That was wild. It was more out of necessity. I mean, I couldn't really go to the local resort anymore.
07:58 There's, you know, people waiting at the chairlift to try to get on the chair with me
08:02 and then, you know, trying to talk to me and, like, take selfies while I did my airs at the half pipe.
08:08 It was flattering to have that much attention, but it definitely caused for, like, a really tough environment to train.
08:16 So, when we built this half pipe, I just had this, like, insane set up all to myself, and we got a lot done.
08:22 And to this day, people still, you know, they still talk about it.
08:26 Like, "Is it still out there?" It's like this mythical thing. Like, "Is it still there?"
08:30 People, I don't know, I love it.
08:32 It's the first time I really was able to invent new tricks for the sport.
08:36 I'd always just kind of done what everyone else was doing, but tried to do it better.
08:40 And this time I got to just, like, create, which was fun.
08:43 How did you train for the Olympics?
08:45 A lot of it got done on the mountain.
08:47 I would say snowboarding is kind of a sport where, yeah, it's nice to have the strength from the gym,
08:52 and it's nice to be able to have a routine, but a lot gets done on the mountain.
08:57 You need the mental aspect just as much as you need the strength.
09:00 Almost more, I would say.
09:02 So, I would go and usually ride probably four or five days in a row, and then take a few days off to just recover.
09:10 And then the nice part about being in the mountains is to recover.
09:13 There's always a lake or a stream or something nearby for a cold plunge, so I just go jump in the cold water and, like, thaw.
09:20 Is training your core important for snowboarding?
09:23 Speaking of core, I think there's a bunch of moves for me that keep my core strength up.
09:32 But I'd say everything has to do with kind of like this planted rotational sort of thing.
09:37 It's like tennis or golf.
09:40 You have to have your feet planted, and then you--oh, did you hear that?
09:43 That was amazing.
09:45 It was the roller that got me all--so I retired.
09:51 Your feet are planted, so you have to just--everything comes from here, and you swing your arms, and it's all rotational.
09:57 So I felt like any time I was at the gym and I could grab one of those, like, pulling machines,
10:04 I would start with, like, you know, kind of like a level plane, and then I'd come from the top and then from below.
10:10 And then anything, like, with a medicine ball where I could come side to side or throw it at a friend, something like that.
10:16 But I think those were the best workouts.
10:19 How did you come up with the double McTwist?
10:21 The double McTwist was something kind of out of necessity.
10:25 I was at a competition, and I was favorited to win, and a competitor of mine had this miracle run and beat me.
10:32 And I was just like, "How did this happen?"
10:35 I was like, "I have to pull out the big guns. I have to pull out every stop."
10:39 And so it was maybe a few days after that I was snowboarding in Utah, and I just said, "Now or never."
10:47 The issue was is that I kept hitting my face every time I did the trick, because it was a double McTwist 1080.
10:55 And the way you come in for that is sort of like your face coming toward the wall,
10:59 and then you pull away as you go to land.
11:02 And if I came up short, I would just clip my face every time.
11:05 It was really awful.
11:07 And I thought, "Well, it's a little scarier to spin further, but at least this way when I come in to land, my back would be facing the wall, not my face."
11:15 And so I remember taking off throwing it, and it just flipped around and landed itself.
11:21 It was just like it was meant to be that trick.
11:24 And I just had this feeling like, "Whew."
11:27 I was so excited. I had upgraded this new level.
11:31 I had unlocked this secret, and it just was the perfect trick.
11:36 How many bones have you broken?
11:38 I've broken... let's see.
11:41 One, two, three maybe? No, four. Four.
11:48 Four is pretty good, I would say.
11:51 I feel like I really made a career out of landing on my feet.
11:55 So I feel pretty lucky.
11:57 And I think I'm pretty resilient, so every time I took a crash, I was able to kind of bounce back.
12:02 Four broken bones, I'd say.
12:05 And three of them were the one incident.
12:09 It was a broken hand, broken foot, and I fractured my skull.
12:13 I was 11 years old.
12:15 Who were your idols growing up?
12:17 My idols, for sure, Tony Hawk.
12:19 I mean, he lived in my community, which was so cool.
12:21 I would see him at the local skate park, so I got to kind of meet my hero, and then later become friends with him.
12:27 There was a guy, this guy, his name was Damien Sanders.
12:31 And he had a black mohawk, and he had shaved his teeth to look like fangs, like a vampire.
12:39 And I was like, "That guy is so cool."
12:42 And I remember he would come through the park and just do these huge layout backflips.
12:46 Remember, this was like the '80s in snowboarding, so this was a wild time.
12:50 I remember, like, "Damien Sanders is so cool."
12:54 It was a crazy time, but definitely those athletes were inspiring to me.
12:59 And then later on in life, I would say Andre Agassi.
13:03 I just love that he not only did his sport, but he did it in a style.
13:08 He had his own look.
13:10 I remember him sitting in the desert on his Lamborghini, doing his photo shoots and stuff.
13:15 And even Mike Tyson, he'd come out and win in a certain style.
13:20 Muhammad Ali. I think Muhammad Ali was probably one of the first outside of my sport.
13:25 I remember picking up a book, and it was like a really--
13:28 Honestly, it was the thinnest book in the library, because I had to do a report on it.
13:32 I'm like, "This is the thinnest one. I'll read this."
13:34 And it was a book about him, and I just was infatuated with him afterward.
13:39 Yeah, big personality.
13:41 Do you do any weird exercises in the gym?
13:44 All right, kids. That's what we do at home.
13:47 Whoa. What's that good for?
13:49 Anything I can keep my mind doing something while balancing was usually the ticket.
13:56 Because you imagine snowboarding, you're crossing the half pipe, and you're hitting bumps and chunks of snow and stuff like that.
14:03 But your mind's got to be focused on the wall and the trick ahead.
14:07 Anything where I'm like--
14:09 I'm working my arms right now, but I'm still working my core and balancing.
14:13 Stuff like this was always my favorite.
14:15 What other sports do you do?
14:17 I love mountain biking.
14:19 It's my favorite thing to do when I'm at home.
14:23 I tried to go to these SoulCycle classes, and it was cool, but I just like the idea of going somewhere.
14:30 I can see the trees and the views and things like that out in nature, so I love mountain biking.
14:36 Is there an exercise you hate?
14:38 I definitely-- I can't stand running.
14:40 I barely want to walk.
14:43 And I'm in New York, and I'm like, "It's the worst."
14:45 It's just a few blocks.
14:46 Anybody from New York that tells you it's just a few blocks, that's so far.
14:50 And they have things here-- avenues are even longer.
14:53 Yeah, I don't know.
14:54 Something about running is just the pounding on my knees and my back.
14:57 And every step I take, I can't help but think, "I have to take this step to get back to where I started from."
15:05 So it's just not my jam.
15:07 Yeah, let's not talk about it.
15:10 Let's just not even-- just picturing it is causing me angst.
15:16 Have you tried any other sports?
15:17 I did a few boxing classes, and it kind of freaked me out because I really liked it.
15:25 I was like, "Oh, man, am I going to be that guy now that just builds an octagon at the house
15:31 and starts trying to bring the guests over and fight them?"
15:35 This is where my head went.
15:38 I don't know, there's something about it because you start to--
15:41 there's a muscle memory and a technique.
15:43 No, you have to pivot your foot or you have to do this.
15:45 And I was like, "Oh, my gosh, I feel like I'm going to get really into this."
15:48 And I don't have time right now.
15:50 So yeah, I did a little bit of boxing.
15:52 I love-- I mentioned mountain biking, surfing, skateboarding.
15:55 I mean, I do a lot of things that are active but not necessarily in the gym.
15:59 But, my God, if you're going to go skate for three or four hours, it's just all leg.
16:04 I mean, what a great workout, and you had fun doing it.
16:08 What are your current fitness goals?
16:10 I think current fitness goals would just to be to kind of maintain.
16:14 I've recently retired, so a lot of the athletes that I spoke to, they're like two things.
16:20 Don't try to fill the void of your sport with something new right away.
16:25 Be kind of comfortable in that nothingness for a bit.
16:27 Enjoy your time off because you will find something new.
16:31 The second thing was do not stop working out.
16:34 The comeback and trying to get back into shape is extremely hard, especially as you get older.
16:39 So I think for me, it's just kind of gracefully, hopefully, maintaining a certain level of fitness as I get older.
16:45 How do you keep your mind fit?
16:47 I've been to a bunch of Tony Robbins seminars, and those really changed a lot for me.
16:52 It's submersive. You're there for multiple days, and you can't escape the stories you've been telling yourself.
16:58 And then you come back, and it's a really amazing experience to just sink into it and be with your own thoughts
17:04 and come to realizations about things through his sort of teachings.
17:08 And then there's a guy named Eckhart Tolle.
17:12 Something about the way he talks, like if you go check out his stuff online, he's got this really--
17:18 I don't know. He might be Austrian or German, but he talks like he's got this very calm talk.
17:24 There were two ducks on the lake, and then one duck came to the other duck and started flapping his wings.
17:30 And it's amazing to sleep to.
17:34 So I just put it on, and he starts talking about the ducks and the lake and this stuff.
17:40 And I feel like I'm getting a little bit of a break from the way I've been thinking about the world,
17:46 and then I can kind of fall asleep to it, and then hopefully my subconscious is getting a little--
17:51 What music do you listen to when you work out?
17:53 I listen to old hip hop. I hate saying that it's old. Is Ludacris old?
17:58 I just like Ludacris, Jay-Z, Black Album.
18:02 I got DMX. He gonna give it to ya.
18:05 Yeah, I don't know. It's just any old hip hop, because everything's just kind of hitting.
18:09 Old Outkast, all that stuff.
18:11 All right, Sean. Time for rapid-fire questions.
18:14 Workout time, 7 a.m. or 7 p.m.?
18:17 7 a.m.
18:18 Squat or deadlift?
18:20 Squat.
18:21 Favorite song on your playlist?
18:22 Bad Boys.
18:24 Crossfit, yay or nay?
18:26 I'm still hearing Bad Boys in my head.
18:29 What?
18:30 Crossfit, yay or nay?
18:31 Nay.
18:32 Pull-ups or chin-ups?
18:35 Pull-ups.
18:36 Dumbbells or kettlebells?
18:37 Dumbbells?
18:38 Run on a treadmill or the great outdoors?
18:41 Neither. I can't stand running.
18:44 Cardio or weights?
18:45 Cardio.
18:46 Big legs or big arms?
18:49 For me, it's leg, I think.
18:51 Biggest compliment, jacked, ripped, swole, cut?
18:55 I'm going to go with shredded.
18:57 If you could work out with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?
19:01 Oh my God, Arnold Schwarzenegger. So easy.
19:04 Just pumping. He'd be like, "Sean, keep calling, keep calling."
19:09 "Okay, Arnie, a couple more."
19:13 All right, that was my fridge and a little bit of my workout.
19:16 Time to get on with my day, so thanks for coming through.
19:19 [music]