Muscle & Fitness Hers South Africa November 2023

PERSONALITIES MY WORKOUT • AFTER COMPETING in the 2018 Olympia during a rookie season highlighted by runner-up finishes in both the Toronto and New York Pros, Darah Diaz failed to qualify for the 2019 Olympia. Diaz, 24, however, is now keeping her list of 2020 events close to the vest, as she is already preparing for a rebound season. “Not announcing the shows now puts less pressure on myself, men tally and physically,” she says. The 2017 NPC Universe winner does share her hardcore hamstring routine that she hopes will help her return to the O stage. “I used to work quads and hamstrings together, but I couldn't get as good of a pump,” Diaz says. “Once I split them, I saw the best results in my legs.” LYING HAMSTRING…

• BREANA WIGLEY leads a double life. When she's not putting her business management degree to work for a multinational bank, the 25-year-old is training hard and hitting the contest circuit, steadily rising up the ranks of the IFBB Professional League bikini division. “I don't talk about it much at work, because I don't want my managers Googling me and finding my glute shots,” she says. Balancing it all isn't easy, Wigley admits, but her lifelong habits have led the way. “I developed structure and discipline as a kid growing up in Memphis, because I had to make sure I would organize my day to be able to do everything I wanted,” she recalls. In college, Wigley employed her discipline and work ethic to get stronger. “I thought, ‘Hey, I…

• AT AN age when many of us couldn't imagine doing a cartwheel, 41-year-old Ryall Graber continues to defy Father Time. The 2018 Fitness Olympia runner-up earned two major titles in 2019: the Fitness International and Arnold Classic Australia Fitness show. One of the 5'4”, 125-pound Canadian native's keys to success is her giant-set-focused training, which she uses to keep her metabolism healthy as she scales back cardio. “I get to eat more closer to a show because my metabolism is so healthy, which means I feel better and leads to winning all around,” Graber says. CRANKING UP THE BURN “Mixing intervals with giant sets increases my metabolism, burns more calories during and after training than standard steady-state cardio and weight workouts, and increases fat loss,” Graber says. GO FOURTH…

What was it that got you into obstacle course racing? I kind of got pulled into it because my ex-boyfriend wanted to try it out. I won my first race [in 2013] by 20 minutes, and I was like, “This is so dumb—there are no real athletes in this sport.” But then I went to the States [from Canada] and started doing races and started not winning. That got me hooked. I was like, “I guess that this isn't as easy as I thought it was.” Spartan Races require full-body strength and lots of endurance. How do you train for them? I train a lot with marathoners in New York City to improve my aerobic engine. In the evenings, I'm in the gym lifting really, really heavy [weights], doing short…

• AMANDA LAWRENCE not only took first at the women's -84kg open class at this year's IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships—she did it in style, breaking three world records with a 536-pound squat, 556-pound deadlift, and 1,352-pound total. Not bad for a 22-year-old with only three and a half years of training. She'd go on to tie that total to win the 84kg weight class at the USA Powerlifting's Raw Nationals in October. Here's her take on training, mindset, and social media. NATURAL TALENT I had never trained the squat, bench, or deadlift before my first meet in June 2016. Then I started training the January before. I squatted every day for four months, and I ended up breaking the American junior squat record. NEVER SETTLE To win Worlds was…

• AT 24 YEARS OLD, Emily Shah has already compiled an impressive résumé. She's a trained dancer and a theater veteran and was named Miss New Jersey in 2014. She's also served as an assistant on the sets of blockbuster films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Fast & Furious 7. But it's her latest project that she considers her big break—and the one about which she's the most passionate and proud. SPREADING THE WORD Shah stars in Jungle Cry, a film based on a true story about a group of amazing teens who never got the glory they deserved—but she hopes to help change that. “They were a group of boys from slums in rural India, some of them are orphans, and they were at a school where…