Polynesian people are descendants of those early mariners that crossed the great waters and became the original inhabitants of the South Pacific Islands. In order to survive those long cold oceanic journeys, their Polynesian bodies evolved to develop maximum muscle building capabilities as a means of generating and preserving body temperature.
This was a direct adaptation to an environmental factor. Those that could not adapt died, whereas the survivors carried with them genetic advantages, creating a hybrid body of sorts, capable of performing enormous feats of physical labor, on very little calories, and very little water.
Colonization of the Pacific Islands only encouraged the Polynesian body to propagate these gene characteristics, as the early Islanders literally hacked their homes out of the forests with their bare hands. Domesticating wildlife and horticulture, was a herculean feat, and the scarcity of fresh water developed a need for the Polynesian body to store fluids efficiently.
These early evolutionary patterns form the basis of the contemporary Polynesian body. It enables Polynesian bodies to:
1. Build muscle easily
2. Possess unique strength to mass capabilities
3. Withstand harsh environmental conditions more easily
4. Endure long periods with little food and little water
Unfortunately these adaptations also mean Polynesian bodies will
1. Store excess energy more easily in the form of body fat
2. Store excess water subcutaneously
3. Burn calories at a slower more gradual pace
In the absence of the extreme physical labors performed by our Polynesian ancestors, and the readily abundant food in western cultures, it is no surprise that Polynesian bodies have a tendency to gain unsightly body fat. This storage of excess energy was a survival adaptation for the days of leanness prevalent in the island cultures, but completely absent in western cultures.
Here are 3 of the best tips to improve a Polynesian Body
1. Exercise, choosing intense weight training over cardio.
Polynesian bodies are designed to work out with maximum intensity. Once or twice a week is sufficient. If you are weight training 5 – 6 days a week, I guarantee that you can train twice as hard once or twice a week. Another way of looking at it is this: If you can weight train for 90 min’s, I assure you, you can train harder for 40 min’s. Remember that you can train hard or you can train long, but you can’t do both. Always choose to train hard. Intense training triggers the release of muscle building hormones into the blood stream. Jane Fonda workouts do not. Polynesian bodies respond well to incredibly intense training regimes performed less often.
2. Don’t eat everyday.
This one may come as a shock to you, especially if you are Polynesian, but it is true. You may have heard that if you don’t eat every few hours then your body goes into starvation mode, yada, yada, yada. Who came up with this idea, did they get the rest of the day off for such brilliance? It is simply not true. Polynesian bodies have descended from a genetic strain of humans that could survive for weeks without food and rest and very little water.
Early man tracked herds over vast expanses, on foot, and when they finally engaged their prey they could somehow muster the strength and energy, in this depleted state, to run down and kill a beast more than ten times their size. I know one thing’s for sure. Put a bunch of these early hominids in the NFL and they would stomp the snot out of those juice heads. We need to tap into that power, and utilize the body’s stored energy.
The idea that you feel tired all the time, and that you need to eat constantly to maintain your energy levels are fabrications of the weak modern mind that prevent us from exploiting the vastness of our true human potential.
3. Eat real, natural, unprocessed foods indigenous to the islands, and eat just enough to be satisfied.
A Polynesian body can store more water, so drink plenty to discourage water retention.
Organic fruits, vegetables, seafood, coconut oil, taro, along with chicken, pork and beef are the mainstay of the Polynesian diet. These are the foods which Polynesian bodies have adapted to assimilate efficiently through hundreds of years of evolution. Polynesians should not consume processed foods. Canned foods and commercially packaged foods combined with the naturally high fat Polynesian diets create metabolic mayhem in the Polynesian body. Eliminate all processed and man made foods gradually.
Through the evolutionary process of natural selection, Polynesian bodies can become the ultimate muscle building powerhouse, or an unsightly storage system for excess energy and water weight. Polynesian bodies can build muscle more efficiently because they possess slightly lower metabolisms, and have a genetic propensity to store more water. Over 70% of muscle is water. This is a wonderful adaptation for gaining muscle mass, but slightly detrimental when the desire is to burn body fat, and flush subcutaneous water. Polynesian bodies also possess a unique hormonal environment that allows muscle gain to take place more effectively. A gift to the contemporary Polynesian body from their ancestors who survived some of the most brutal oceanic endeavors.
To approach genetic potential a Polynesian bodybuilder should train with extreme intensity, less often, control caloric intake and manage their water correctly.