For a brief moment, the weight room becomes silent, heads turn, and students watch in awe as Callum Day Ham (‘19) gracefully pulls his chest over a bar and rotates his wrists enabling him to complete a perfect muscle-up. Five days a week, Day Ham enters the Paly weight room, chalk bag in hand, attempting to perfect complex movements on the bar and on the ground.

Day Ham is an ex-Varsity wrestler and crew member turned gym enthusiast. He has been consistently working out since the beginning of the 2018-19 school year and focuses on calisthenics, a type of fitness that includes a variety of body weight movements targeted at different muscle groups.
Since his decision to leave his two sports, Day Ham has dedicated much of his time to training.

“I go to the gym six days a week and I do cardio one day a week,” Day Ham said. “A fat burning session in the morning, after-school workout, and then usually a night time bike or morning bike.”

Day Ham’s dedication to the gym has drawn other students with similar passions to work with him in calisthenics training. Although Day Ham does not consider himself a major influencer in the gym, he views his expertise as an opportunity to work together.

“People see something they are interested in, or that they are already doing, and they can join forces and build workout plans together,” Day Ham said.

During the time Day Ham has been consistently working out, he has seen dramatic increases in strength. At the beginning of the year, Day Ham could not complete a single muscle-up. Today, he can max out at 15. He credits his gains to his strict diet and planning of workouts.

Typical mornings consist of a breakfast just short of a thousand calories. Day Ham incorporates kale, meat, water, and milk in his first meal of the day. However, besides his emphasis on eating, Day Ham firmly believes goal setting is the number one shortcut to strength.

“A lot of people think they are just going to go to the gym, have a workout plan, and they will get better over time. Which will work, but it will work slower than if you set goals for yourself and work tirelessly to it.” Day Ham said. “Once you obtain a goal, you maintain it and then progress.”

Day Ham’s strategies to calisthenics have worked out for him, and he looks to continue his training and build on his gains from this past semester. In the near future, Day Ham will continue to master the bar and continue to turn heads in the weight room.