IFa beginner was to follow the texbook he would assume that you would use the same amount of energy from each foot to dance the rise in a NT,but we know that good dancers use body swing to dance the rise and fall to the rhyme of the music so it is perhaps posable to swing up onto that left foot without using it for anything more than to change weight. As for timing we are told to dance a long beat two and Johnathen has said in the past that he takes longer than half a beat to change shape and lower, also it seems that many good dancers reach the top on beat two of the music?

cdroge. A good dancer will not reach their maximum height on two. Commence to rise at the end of one Continue to rise on two and three. Lower at the end of three.
In the Foxtrot you will reach your maximum height on two.The third step is the same height as the second step. Rise at the end of one. Up on two and three. Lower at the end of three.
Its as simple as that once you get the above firmly into you mind.
For the lady who is stepping backwards Look in your technique book for NFR. ( No Foot Rise ) and learn how to apply it.

The difficulty is that the technique book defines a step as starting when the feet close, whereas the music (which the dancing is interpreting)is defined by its beats. Worse still, there is no specification of when a step starts relative to the musical beats.
So saying "rise at end of 1" is open to lots of intereptation (which ultimately is a good thing, but not for those trying to improve).
So, according to the text book, "start to rise end of 1" means starting as the left foot passes the right foot in the 1-2-3 natural turn. For most people, this time is on beat 1&.This is not the same as "end of beat 1"
The real problems (for me anyway) are:
When is "end of 3" in relation to the music? and
The technique book talks about rising...continue to rise... lower. So for how long am i actually "UP". Is it zero time?
Watching Sinkinson, Hilton and Gozzoli, they have important differences in the way they interpret all this.
On a related issue, what would you say to an aspiring improver to help them improve their interpretation of the character of the slow waltz? - to get the 'lilt' of a previous thread

However, I would agree that the rise occurring during the later part of step two and the earlier part of step three feels more like you are "floating up" from the swing than that you are lifting yourself by intentionally pushing with your muscles. This reply by Anymouse may help with the lilt. We swing up strongly at the beginning of the bar of music and then cruise towards the end of the bar letting gravity slow us down and change our direction, as we descend we gather speed. So simple yet so hard to do with style.