Some find exercising first thing in the morning the best way to start the day, whilst others prefer to head to the gym after work to de-stress.

But what is the best time of day to exercise? Dr Michael Mosley has revealed all as he debunked five exercise myths.

The TV presenter explained common fitness theories including “if I work out, I can eat lots more” and “the more you exercise, the better.”

Dr Mosley also responded to the myth “best time to exercise is first thing in the morning” in a post on his Fast 800 website and explained why it depends on your goal.

This is the best time of day to exercise according to Dr Michael Mosley

The 66-year-old said: “This is a tough one, because while there are advantages to exercising first thing, there are also advantages to exercising later.

“There is some evidence, for example, that exercising before breakfast (i.e. in the fasted state) leads to more fat burning, but if you are interested in performance, then late afternoon or early evening may be a better time to work out.”

He went on to say: “Why? Well, your body temperature is lowest first thing in the morning.

“It then steadily rises by about 1 degree Celsius till it reaches a peak around midday. It stays quite high till about 7pm, when it starts to fall.

“Being slightly more revved up with warmer muscles can contribute to an improvement in performance.

“It may also reduce the risk of injury. On this basis exercising any time between midday and 7pm is good. Much later and it may disturb your sleep.”

When it comes to what works best for Dr Mosley’s personal workout routine, he added: “I do a mix. I do strength exercises like push ups and squats first thing, when I roll out of bed.

“I get my aerobic exercise by running up and down seven flights of stairs at my office during the day and by doing short 20 second bursts on my bike as a toil up the long steep hill back to my house in the evenings.”