Nov. 1, 2012, 3 a.m.

'Josef, what is the best time of day to exercise?" is one of the top 20 most frequently asked questions I get at parties. The answer to this question is on two levels: practicality and physiology. Practicality is about what you can do - do today, do tomorrow and continue doing. Physiology is about what works best for your body. They don't always agree.

Research has shown that exercising first thing in the morning may aid weight loss and that the body is best primed for physical activity in the late afternoon. But, as the excellent fitness coach Alwyn Cosgrove likes to say, "psychology trumps physiology", and I will change that to, "practicality trumps physiology''.

The most important thing is picking a time of day when you can actually get your workouts done because if you can't get them done, any talk about optimising them becomes irrelevant because they're not getting done. With that in mind, let's start with the practical and then move on to the physiological.

Just pick a time you know you can work out and if that isn't practical , then try another time. If the second attempted time doesn't work, try something else.

However, once you've changed your mind three times you have to start looking in the mirror.

Adapting to reality is a good thing, but there is a fine line between adapting to reality and just making excuses so that you don't do anything.

You may need to become a morning person if you find your evenings being thwarted by a lack of energy, family duties, or work spilling over.

If your plate is full, then you need to do something to expand the size of the plate - which is to say increase your capacity and energy levels.

If the energy you do have is already spoken for, then you won't have any left over at the end of the day. This means you will need to bite the bullet and do it before everything else.

Read this article:
Working at your workouts