Finishing second at this year’s Fitness Olympia contest—after a year away from the stage due to a foot injury—was the pinnacle of Ryall Graber’s highly successful decade-plus run in the IFBB Pro League.
Yet, ask her for her most memorable performance, and she’ll point to her first pro win at the 2013 Arnold Classic Fitness Brazil. “I was in the middle of a painful divorce,” she says. “The outcome was the culmination of learning from a lot of failures, perseverance, following my heart, working hard, and staying disciplined. Winning made me realize the only limits we do have are the ones we set on ourselves. It lit a fire inside of me.”
Over the course of an impressive 41 IFBB Pro League shows since turning pro in just her second-ever fitness contest in 2007, 40-year-old Graber has learned a lot about her body “through multiple diets and routines, hormone imbalances, even massive weight rebounds post-show,” as she explains. That experience has helped her develop a sensible approach—including a healthy, year-round diet plan and specific show-to-show training plans—which she credits with her longevity in the sport.
It doesn’t hurt, either, that this 5’4″, 125-pound athlete and personal trainer spends her days in paradise. Cancun, Mexico, to be exact, where she launched her online coaching business in 2010 and, in 2014, RyallFitness Getaway, where she provides a fitness-oriented destination experience to clients.
Now, with 10 top-10 finishes at the Fitness International and Fitness Olympia contests to her credit, Graber has reached a state few athletes ever reach: contentment. “I’m very fulfilled with my personal achievements,” she says. “But my passion for this sport will keep me on this stage a little longer. Why stop if I’m feeling healthy and I love to compete with my fellow fitness sisters? I trust in my journey and that I’ll know when the time is right for me to stop, but now isn’t that time.”
