Exercise and Fitness

In fact, centuries before Instagram and activewear, "doing yoga" didn't involve the body at all.

At its core, yoga is a practice for tapping into your mind and poses are just one way of doing that.

Yoga's philosophy is based on eight limbs; only one of them, asana, is about the poses. The rest: yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, are best described as moral and ethical codes to live by.

OK, maybe it was so long ago that the last time you worked up a sweat, canvas sandshoes were the active footwear of choice and mobile music players weren't even invented?

If so, chances are it's more than the best workout playlists and the dizzy array of psychedelic sports shoe options troubling your mind.

There are more fundamental questions like, just how does someone who hasn't exercised for years get moving in a way that's enjoyable, sustainable, and dare you mention, safe?

It may well be something you've heard a million times before. But when it comes to your fitness, it's well worth remembering.

If instant gratification is your thing, exercise can be a drag. It's not something you do once, then sit back and reap a lifetime of rewards.

Those rewards only come with hard work, consistency and self-discipline.

"You're only as good as your last training session," said sports scientist Tony Boutagy.

"In other words, you only get health benefits from a session for up to about 48 hours afterwards."

You only have to look at what happens when you don't do it to see why.

But physical activity also comes with its fair share of aches and pains — and there's no denying that sometimes it can hurt.

If we were to stop working out at the first sign of discomfort, however, we'd probably never do any exercise at all.

Cairns-based physiotherapist Ryan Adam encourages everyone to get on board with the New Year, New Me concept popular on social media, but said people needed to be mindful of overdoing things.

"Everyone needs a bit of motivation, and if that's the start of the year for you then good on you," he said.

"[But] subtle injuries can arise over a couple of weeks or a couple of months and rear their ugly head, or you can get some obvious acute strains and sprains from just going too hard.