Like flossing your teeth and calling your mother, stretching is something we know we should do regularly but don’t always find the time. And when we do, it’s often a little rushed.

“I was one of those guys who never bothered to stretch,” says Mr Johan Montijano, 37, who has been a yoga instructor in New York for the past nine years. “I thought it was a waste of time.”

Growing up in a small town between Toulon and Marseille, in the south of France, Mr Montijano was a competitive mountain biker until he picked up a niggling knee problem. His doctor told him to stop cycling for six months. “I didn’t like that as a solution – giving up the thing that I loved most.”

And so he found himself trying yoga to help rehabilitate his injury. At first, he hated it. “I didn’t think it was for me.” But eventually something clicked – and it wasn’t knee cartilage. “Soon I was doing yoga every day, and I got so into it that, after a year, I decided to train to become an instructor.”

Mr Montijano is now one of Equinox’s top yoga teachers in Manhattan – a job he fits in around modelling work and looking after his young daughter.

“Stretching is a powerful tool that enables you to use your body at its full capacity,” he says. “It makes you more efficient. So if you like running, you’re going to run faster; if you like lifting, you’re going to lift heavier. Plus, it is just as beneficial for your mind; you’ll recover faster, sleep better, pick up fewer injuries.”

MR PORTER has teamed up with the health and fitness experts at Q by Equinox (the luxury gym’s online magazine) to produce a set of work-outs aimed at building a body that looks – and is – truly healthy. In this second instalment, Mr Montijano takes us through a series of stretches that can – and should – be performed as often as possible.

And yes, OK, we know you floss twice daily really. Now call your mother.