"There's been no sugar, no salt, no dairy products and no bread. I've been on a high protein diet . . . it's all about disciplined training and disciplined eating."
A butcher at Silver Fern Farms Takapau plant, Poloa will compete in the 40plus tall class today. He won't find out how many competitors he's up against until the show begins.
"I'm hoping for a top three finish and if I achieve that I will qualify for nationals. If everything goes well I will do the naturals comp in Taupo in a fortnight. I'll still be in shape - I'll have a munch out on Sunday and then get back into training again," Poloa said.
"People used to ask me how I got so fit for league. I just used to adapt the dedication and commitment I had for bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is all about self discipline, nobody else can do the training for you. It's not like league when you miss a tackle and hope one of your teammates will make it for you," he explained.
Poloa, the first Flaxmere bodybuilder to enter a NABBA Hawke's Bay show, trained 90 minutes each day during the nine weeks leading up to today's show.
"It got a bit longer during the last two or three weeks with more cardio. I've also choreographed my own one-minute routine with music . . . I can't tell you what the music is until the evening segment."
"I've done weights for 25 years so that part of my training has been quite enjoyable."
Poloa did his first bodybuilding comp in 1990 and was selected in a New Zealand Junior Men's team to attend an IFBB event in Sydney in 1991.
"Because of the way my birthday came I was put up into the open men's under-80kg class over there and finished third. It would be good to represent New Zealand again," he said.
Poloa heaped kudos on the facilities available to him at the FlaXrock Gym. "Everything one would want is there. I don't think enough people in Flaxmere know it's there. It's here for everybody and I'm happy to pass on my bodybuilding knowledge to anybody who wants to take it up. The youth in Flaxmere don't have to go out of town to flash gyms because everything is here."
A father of two, Poloa recalled the days when he first took up weight training and Hemi's Gym in Peary Cres was the only gym in Flaxmere. FlaXrock Gym opened in the late 1980s and was part of the pool complex and Poloa was hired to run it after the pool complex manager Ian Clayton transferred to the Ocean Spa complex in Napier.
FlaXrock Gym is now part of the Flaxmere Community Centre.
Poloa last played rugby league in 2012 at the age of 43. A groin injury was the signal to call it quits.
He was a key member of the Tamatea premier team which completed a four-peat of Hawke's Bay premiership titles in 2002. Poloa helped Tamatea win the title again in 2008 and in 2011 played for the Outkast Sports team which won the reserve grade comp.
In 2012 the Outkast team was promoted to the premier grade and they won the premiership that year and in 2013. Because of his bodybuilding commitments there's no chance of him making a comeback in Hawke's Bay's Spring Competitions which begin today at the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park with a six-team premier grade, seven-team reserve grade and five-team women's grade.
In premier matches defending champions Bridge Pa Sports will take on last year's runners-up Omahu Huia, Tamatea will meet Kahuranaki and 2014 and '15 champions Napier Panthers will play Dannevirke Tigers.
