"I can honestly say that my life would not be the same without the help of Bill Case. Growing up I was a lazy and uninspired kid who lived in a world that moved way too slow for me. Nothing pushed me and everything came as easy as just asking for it. “Hard work” was a term that was not in my immediate vernacular, instead I replaced it with terms like, “coasting” and “easy-going”. I was comfortable in my life, where passing grades were a nice alternative to late night study sessions and stress induced panic attacks. I had NO FEAR of the future because I had NO future. But all of that changed when I met Bill.

​

Growing up I was always the small, skinny runt, who would run occasionally just to pretend like I was a healthy and well-maintained individual. But when you grow up in Hawaii where sunny beaches are filled with tanned gods who could create seismic blasts around them just by flexing; the small skinny runt feels just that much more insignificant. So, when it was time to sign up for classes I sprang at the opportunity to enlist myself in the brand-new class offered by the school: Powerlifting taught by Bill Case. Completely unaware of what “powerlifting” even was, and the fact that I was more like a “powerloser”, I jumped into the abyss not only blindfolded, but with both arms tied behind my back; and it was the best decision of my entire life.

​

For the first couple of days I almost hated the class. In my eyes at the time it was slow and tedious. We didn’t even pick up weight for a while and instead just worked on form. At the time it just seemed like Bill was trying his hardest to avoid a lawsuit. I was young and impatient, and not in the mood to lift light bars. I wanted the muscles that would make every guy jealous and every girl fall in love with me. But, nevertheless, I kept going. Days turned into weeks, and after a short while of work without weights, we finally started powerlifting.

That is when the intensity picked up. Bill had given us all our plans and our journals. Every single day, for one hour every day, we would lift and record every little lift we did, every rep and every set. The pace picked up quick and the desire to become better quickly filled my heart. It was almost like this need to improve that kept me going and inspired me to do more. Eventually Bill opened the gym for his students after school as well, completely free of charge. What started as a vain way to gain muscle and impress women was changed. I saw the potential in myself that Bill saw in each one of us. He wanted us to succeed, and it was inspiring. The gym was about a twenty-minute walk from school, and every day after school I would make that walk and work out for another hour.

​

I had never felt so inspired and cared for by a teacher before. The gym was my second home, a place where Bill would teach me about the world in terms of weights and numbers. Bill taught me that the more work you put into something you care about, the more that something will become a beautiful masterpiece. Finally, in my life I found something that I could put my all in, and it was myself. Bill had taught me to work on myself, and constantly improve my body as well as my mind.

​

Bill was patient and taught us form before giving us weight. Bill opened the gym for us after school because he wanted us to succeed in what we were already putting so much work into. He wrote us workout plans and took time to teach us about nutrition. Bill changed a skinny, lazy and unconfident little kid, and turned him into a hardworking, healthy and intelligent member of society. 

​

Bill is a very intelligent and caring individual, who only wants to help others in succeeding in not only reaching but surpassing their potential. His ability to care about others is only matched by his willingness and desire to constantly learn and improve himself. He forever and always will have a special place in my heart and I’m very grateful to say that I found a family in Five Mountain Fitness."

​

Keli’i Crawford