EAST RUTHERFORD -- Giants running back Andre Williams met the man he believes will save his career while getting fitted for a fashion show.

The man produced the samples for a fashion show hosted by former Giants wide receiver Marcus Harris in January. During the fitting, the man told Williams how his martial arts-based workouts had helped Harris recover from microfracture surgery.

A fourth-round pick by the Giants in 2014, Williams was searching for something different after he averaged 2.9 yards per carry last season. Immediately, Williams was convinced that the man that he describes as a "martial arts master who made his money in apparel" held the key to his career.

Williams and his sensei started working out every day. The results quickly made Williams a devoted believer in his new trainer.

"In 24 days of working with him, I dropped 12 pounds and I went from a size 36 waist to 31.5," Williams told NJ Advance Media. "I really was able to rebuild my body by really delving into this martial arts practice that has just been so effective for me. It didn't just have a great effect on my physical body, but on my mental body, too. I feel a lot more put together."

Williams is enthusiastic about sharing the impact of the training. But Williams and Harris said the trio came to an agreement to keep the sensei's identity private.

"He's not a grand master, he doesn't own a dojo or anything," Williams said. "He's made his money doing other things and he kind of likes to stay under the radar."

PUSH-UPS, PULL-UPS AND DUCK WALKS

Williams got some odd looks from teammates when his winter workouts at the Giants' facility featured duck walks the length of the field.

"Some people laugh at it. Some people think it's silly," Williams said. "But when they see what I look like on the field they understand that it's really not a joke."

Williams, who led the nation in rushing as a senior at Boston College in 2013, already was a physical specimen. He worked out at a conventional gym after rushing for 721 yards in his rookie season and arrived at training camp last year with the physique of a bodybuilder. But after his disappointing second season, Williams knew he needed to make changes.

"I did what everybody else did," Williams said. "I went and paid some trainer some crazy amount of money to train for a month and a half. And it's cool because you are with other guys playing football, but a lot of the guys are just going through the motions. They know it's what they're supposed to be doing, so they're just out there. But they're really in Miami having fun."

Pass by @novonezero, training by @goparabolic 8 days out now.. #bigbluenation #gmen #giants A photo posted by Andre Williams (@drewill44) on Jul 22, 2015 at 11:10am PDT

Williams stayed in New Jersey most of this offseason, working with his sensei and Harris when the receiver would fly in from Texas. The workouts were different from anything Williams had ever done.

"It's about bodyweight mastery, so there's no weights," Williams said. "It's not necessarily any quick movements. There's inner muscles that you can build. When you're lifting weights, you're working your outer muscles. But you put the weights down for a month and you lose everything you gained. But when you work the inner muscles, you're building something that doesn't leave you. I feel very different."

Harris met the sensei last October at -- where else? -- a fashion show. He tried to recruit other Giants to join the workouts, but only Williams gave it a shot.

"It's all about dedicating yourself," said Harris, who is healthy and hoping for a call from an NFL team. "It's hard for people to adapt to different workouts like that because they're used to lifting all the weights thinking that they're doing something. (Lifting is) just more strain on the body and it leads to quicker injuries."

In addition to duck walks, workouts include static holds like wall sits and horse stances ... and an ungodly amount of push-ups and pull-ups.

"Before we came back to training camp, those last 23 days, I did 35,000 push-ups and 9,000 pull-ups," Williams said. "That was only part of the workout that I was doing. My energy level is different now."

MAN ON A MISSION

Williams believes he was on the same level physically as his opponents in his first two NFL seasons. But he felt like something was lacking mentally.

Williams had low stamina, which impaired his focus, which led to struggles catching the football. His sensei addressed that with focus games, such as drawing a dot on the locker room floor with a circle around it.

"You've got to stare at the dot until the circle starts to disappear," Williams said. "Right now, I can start making the circle disappear in four minutes. But when I first started, it used to put me to sleep."

Teammates may wonder what Williams is doing, but the results make it easy for him to ignore any skepticism.

"My play has changed. It's totally different," Williams said. "Not just physically, but mentally, I'm a different person. So I don't even care. I know I'm the alpha, so I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing. That's going to help me get ahead."

Down from 232 pounds last season to 215 now, Williams said he feels more explosive. He flashed some of his newfound quickness with nine carries for 41 yards in the preseason opener on Friday.

"He's definitely sleeker, has a little more burst," Giants coach Ben McAdoo said. "He seems to be a man on a mission."

While Williams said his training has become a lifestyle, he made it clear that everything this offseason was done for one purpose.

"It's all for here," Williams said. "The whole point is to score touchdowns. That's exactly why I did it. I want to get on the field and I want to score a lot of touchdowns this year."

Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.