There’s Mavericks physical education., P.E. at the YMCA, independent study P.E., sports, and the feared seventh period P.E. with mathematics teacher Bill Huffman. Many students, when asked, will spill the rumored horrors of the class.
“A lot of the students who’ve never participated in it just hear, ‘This guy’s killing them, he’s torturing them,’” Huffman said. “I do push them, but really, it’s a good thing. A lot of teenagers up to this point — most, not all — haven’t been pushed to their limits, so a lot of them are scared due to sheer ignorance.”
Huffman takes his P.E. course seriously. As stated on his Foothill Wiki page, Huffman’s goal for the class is to “teach students about the importance of activity in their lives, to help students grow up as healthy, strong individuals and with a lifelong love of activity.”
Huffman is especially concerned about childhood inactivity and obesity in the United States. Approximately 21 to 24 percent of American children are overweight, and 16 to 18 percent are obese. Obesity has lead to health problems such as type two diabetes and hypertension, and Huffman hopes his class will help fight against these problems.
“Students know I have high expectations for them,” he said. “I treat every single one of them as an athlete, and I sort of push my teacher role to the side and let my coaching side come in.” {sidebar id=67}
Huffman, who is known around campus for his very healthy lifestyle and fit figure, is a CrossFit instructor. He first heard about this program when he was coaching gymnastics in 2005.
“I would go to the gym and I would mix up gymnastics with weightlifting and just push myself super, super hard. One parent of my gymnast saw me doing that and read about this crazy program, CrossFit, in the LA Times and was like, ‘You should check this out,’ and he gave me the website. I checked it out and was like, ‘Cool! This is neat,’” Huffman said.
His very first Crossfit workout, the Murph workout, consisted of a one mile run, a hundred pull-ups, two hundred push-ups, three hundred squats, and another one mile run, all of which was timed.
“It took me an hour and about seven minutes to do the workout. It was really, really hard, but I loved it and was hooked. And a year later I did the workout in thirty-two minutes,” he said.
Huffman organizes and directs CrossFit workouts similar to the one above for his P.E. class. The class schedule runs in the order of warm-ups, followed by sprints and then workouts that are designed to strengthen the upper and lower body.
Although most students who have never participated in his P.E. class assume it would be a terrifying experience, Huffman’s students seem to enjoy and appreciate the tough workouts.
“I like his class a lot,” freshman Jay McCoy said. “His workouts are great; they make me feel strong and healthy.”
Sophomore Najah Hawara said people often misjudge Huffman because of his P.E. class.
“You might think of him as tough and scary, but he’s really, really nice,” Hawara said. “I wouldn’t say I’m fit yet, but I like to work out and I like the feeling after. ”
