He did rehabilitation work at the Athletes Performance Clinic in California after an operation on his right Achilles tendon in July.
Williams (28) was able to use the clinic because of the All Blacks' sponsorship by Adidas.
"It's an amazing facility," Williams said yesterday.
"It opened my eyes to a lot of techniques that we can use to better ourselves physically.
"We have the majority of the techniques but there are still a few things that they do differently."
Williams also had a holiday in the United States that gave him a rest away from the pressures of rugby that he would have experienced in New Zealand.
Williams was in Dunedin yesterday to promote his book Ali's Book of Tall Tales by James Griffin.
Williams has a contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union for another three years and will be available for the All Blacks during that time.
"I would like to play international rugby as long as I can," he said.
"I have had overseas offers but at the moment it doesn't appeal to me at all."
Williams has been out of the rugby action since aggravating his Achilles tendon injury when the Blues played the Hurricanes in the Super 14 at the Cake Tin in Wellington on May 1.
He also had an injury to his left shoulder.
He was disappointed but philosophical about the Achilles injury.
"It was just a case of getting on with the surgery and then the rehabilitation so I can get back to playing some footy next year," he said.
Williams started in all 15 All Black tests in 2008, so missing the entire 2009 international season was a disappointment..
"Yes it has been a frustrating year," he said.
"But rugby is a contact sport and you get injuries. It is just one of the things you have to deal with."
Williams was naturally worried about giving up his All Black spot in case his replacements were able to step up and keep him out of the team.
"But what can you do? You physically can't do anything," he said.
"There are good locks here and there is a challenge in front of me now."
New forward coach Graham Henry adopted a simple approach on the northern hemisphere tour and the line-out worked perfectly.
"As soon as you get rid of me the line-out seems to work," Williams quipped.
Fact File: Ali Williams
Full name: Alexander (Ali) James Williams
Age: 28
Place of birth: Auckland
Height and weight: 2.02m, 112kg
Education: Kings College, Auckland; Auckland University of Technology
Position: Lock
Record: Auckland 2001-07, Tasman 2007-08; Blues 2002-07, 09; Crusaders 2007-08; All Blacks 2002-08 (61 tests).
