Sleep is arguably the most overlooked tenet of health and fitness there is. It also tends to be the one people are most reluctant to take steps to improve. Those on a health kick will happily compare workout plans, diets, supplements and shiny new recovery tools, pouring time and money into each category. Then they […]
Sleep is arguably the most overlooked tenet of health and fitness there is. It also tends to be the one people are most reluctant to take steps to improve.
Those on a health kick will happily compare workout plans, diets, supplements and shiny new recovery tools, pouring time and money into each category. Then they go home, watch TV into the early hours and wonder why they don’t feel so good. Yet experts agree that your time between the sheets could be the key to unlocking untold benefits.
“It’s free, but not everyone uses it,” Coros athlete and Scotland’s first four-time Olympian Eilish McColgan tells me. “It’s probably the thing that’s neglected the most, but it should be a key focus – that is when your body recovers.”
“Sleep is a massive thing for me, but it’s something I neglected for a long time,” fellow Olympian, Red Bull athlete and BMX supremo Kieran Reilly adds. “I thought it wasn’t a big deal, and if I focused on everything else it would be fine. But [since fine-tuning my approach in 2022] the difference in my energy levels, recovery and performance has been massive.”
The problem is, elite athletes don’t live the same lives as the majority of people. For the rest of the world, sleep can’t always be a priority, and the fabled (though scientifically dubious) eight hours per night reads more like fiction than aspiration.
For those in this camp, for whom improving sleep quantity isn’t an option, upping their sleep quality might be enough to enjoy some of the impressive benefits of an optimised kip – improved appetite regulation, focus, mood and immune function, to name a few.
This is something the UK’s best-known trainer, Joe Wicks, found as a father of four with frequent interruptions to his nightly resting efforts.
“The first thing to really prioritise, and I think a lot of people will resonate with this, is getting your sleep right,” he says. “When you’re sleeping well, the food and exercise side of things comes a little bit easier.”
He said two changes have proved transformative to this; improving his sleep regularity, and investing in a Lumie alarm clock so he can leave his phone downstairs when bedtime rolls around.
“The truth is, if you remove the phone from your bedroom, you’re way less likely to doom-scroll, to wake up in the night and check your phone or to lay in bed for an extra hour in the morning – it is the most important thing you can do,” he says.
If you’re in the market for some sleep tips to supercharge whatever slumber you are able to snag, read on. We’ve spoken to experts and raided the research to find the best actionable advice for doing just that.
Read more: I drank kefir for a month and it made me feel like a superhuman – what’s the secret behind this gut-friendly drink?
Joe Wicks, seen here at EE Learn Live 2025, says improving your sleep is ‘the most important thing to do’ if you’re looking to improve your fitness (Joshua Bratt/EE Learn Live 2025)
Sleep regularity
As Wicks mentions, sleep regularity is key. This simply means attempting to establish consistent times at which you fall asleep and wake up.
In fact, sleep regularity is now believed to be almost as important as sleep duration for our long-term health, with a 2023 consensus statement published in the Sleep Healthjournal highlighting its role in “health, safety and performance”. However, the statement also concludes that “when insufficient sleep is obtained during the week or work days, weekend or non-work day, catch-up sleep may be beneficial”.
The reason sleep regularity is so important is because of your circadian rhythm – an intrinsic 24-hour body clock plugged into every cell and system in the body. Disrupting this rhythm with irregular sleep throws the body off balance, playing havoc with our internal systems and contributing to an increased risk of conditions such as fatigue, depression and heart disease.
Read more: I walked 10,000 steps with a weighted backpack every day for a week – here are five reasons I’m not stopping
Be careful with food and caffeine timings
Don’t consume caffeine in the eight hours before you plan to sleep, and avoid eating at least two hours before heading to bed, The Sleep Scientist founder Dr Sophie Bostock advises.
Caffeine’s stimulatory effects are widely known, and most people will be able to work out why swerving it ahead of bedtime is a good idea. With food, Dr Bostock says eating sends signals to our body that it still has a job to do – namely, digesting – so it will struggle to access deep sleep in the hours afterward.
Read more: I tried mouth taping for three weeks, and the results surprised me
Leaving a gap between your last meal and bedtime can help you have a deeper sleep (Alamy/PA)
Moderate phone use
It was previously believed that exposure to bright light from phone screens before bed was derailing your slumber. While this probably doesn’t help, recent research suggests it doesn’t play as significant a role as many once thought. However, your phone is still standing between you and a solid night’s kip.
A 2024 theoretical review proposed that other tech-linked factors are also at play – its phrasing of “bedtime procrastination” may strike uncomfortably close to home for some.
“Bright light and arousal do not seem to matter as much as how we manage our screen time in the evening,” it states. “For some individuals and families, removing technology from bedrooms overnight could be a helpful way to prevent any possible impacts of technology use on sleep. However, restricting devices may not suit everyone, or for some families this could be difficult to implement.
“Technology is here to stay, and a harm minimisation approach is warranted – technology can be in the bedroom, but to avoid a negative impact on sleep it should not disturb you during the night [or be put on flight mode]. It should not be used later than the intended bedtime, and it should be used for less engaging activities like TV watching [before your set bedtime].”
Read more: The three ‘essential’ kettlebell exercises for health and longevity, according to an expert strength coach
Don’t let your phone delay your bedtime if you want to avoid hampering your sleep, research suggests (Alamy/PA)
Use light to your advantage
While phone light may not be as important as first thought, light in general remains vital for regulating your sleep.
Consistent signalling is key to keeping your body operating smoothly, and for time-signalling, these signals are called zeitgebers or time-givers. Natural light, Dr Bostock says, is the most powerful zeitgeber at our disposal.
For this reason, it’s important to expose yourself to plenty of natural light shortly after waking wherever possible. Working in a well-lit area during the day will also help.
Contrastingly, in the two hours before bed, turn down the lights in your home. This advice comes from a list of tips given to participants in a 2020 sleep study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, with a view to improving their sleep.
Further featured advice includes the three points above, as well as keeping your bedroom quiet and cool, doing calm and positive activities before bed, “trying to get so much sleep that you do not need an alarm clock to wake up”, and learning a relaxation technique. This brings us nicely to our final point.
Read more: Sleepmaxxing: Is the pursuit of the perfect night’s rest making us more anxious?
Learn a relaxation technique
This can be anything from meditation to journaling. You might even benefit from drafting up a quick action plan for the next day or a simple to-do list, Dr Bostock says.
It’s all about giving yourself a sense of control, she advises. “Reflect on each thought, express it so it’s not just churning around in your head, then move on.”
Read more: 17 best mattresses, tried and tested by The Independent’s sleep expert
Baumgarten Sixth in the Heptathlon, Three Privateers Qualify for Finals on Opening Day of Southland Outdoor Championships
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NEW ORLEANS – After a strong start, New Orleans’ Helen Baumgarten sits sixth overall in the women’s heptathlon, while three Privateers qualified for the finals of their respective events after day one of the 2025 Southland Conference Track and Field Championships in Houston, Texas. While Baumgarten will close the multi-day event […]
NEW ORLEANS – After a strong start, New Orleans’ Helen Baumgarten sits sixth overall in the women’s heptathlon, while three Privateers qualified for the finals of their respective events after day one of the 2025 Southland Conference Track and Field Championships in Houston, Texas.
While Baumgarten will close the multi-day event on Friday, teammates Emma Bourg, Annika Metzger and Madonna Favour will compete on Saturday in the finals of the women’s 1500m and men’s 200m events, respectively.
Baumgarten finished the first day of the women’s heptathlon with 2952 points through four events. The junior capped Thursday with a win in the 200m race in 24.53 seconds, following up a 5th place finish in the 100m hurdles in 14.57 seconds. She placed 13th in the high jump and shot put with marks of 1.53m and 9.06m.
Bourg and Metzger finished in the top three of their respective heats in the women’s 1500m prelims to automatically qualify for Saturday’s final. Bourg finished in 4:37.15 in the third heat for the 7th-best time on the day, while Metzger’s 4:38.27 in the opening heat placed her eighth overall. Michela Papalia finished 18th overall with a time of 4:53.55.
Favour booked his spot in the men’s 200m final, finishing second in the opening heat of the prelims in 21.21 seconds. Darryl George Jr. finished 22nd overall with a time of 21.71 seconds, followed by Travian Johnson’s time of 21.72 seconds. Tshilidzi Netshiombo rounded out the New Orleans contingent with a time of 22.47 seconds to finish 34th.
Mason Appleton finished 8th in his heat of the men’s 1500m prelims, placing 19th overall at 4:02.05. Layden Jack finished 21st in the women’s 200m prelims, finishing in 24.96 seconds.
Josh Johnston slashed over 15 seconds from his previous top time in the men’s 10,000m with a new personal-best mark of 33:20.18 to finish 14th in the race. Antonio Delgado claimed 18th, finishing in 34:55.25.
Freshman Petra Imre placed 12th in the women’s 10,000m run at 39:53.49, while Michelle Folk finished 19th at 43:03.06.
In the field events, Jace Phelan set a new personal best, finishing 14th in the men’s javelin throw with a toss of 52.30m. Tyler Mitchell finished 23rd with a throw of 40.54m.
Christina Davis placed 18th in the women’s hammer throw, landing a throw of 36.86m on her third attempt.
NEXT UP
The Privateers set their sights on day two the 2025 Southland Conference Championships at the Wendel D. Ley Track & Holloway Field in Houston.
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New High Performance Director of Pathways appointed
Jamie Bahnisch has been appointed as Golf Australia’s new High Performance Director of Pathways. Most recently the High Performance Manager for the Queensland Academy of Sport, Bahnisch brings to the role a wealth of knowledge and experience guiding Australian athletes. In his new role, he will be focused primarily on delivering three key objectives. Focus […]
Jamie Bahnisch has been appointed as Golf Australia’s new High Performance Director of Pathways.
Most recently the High Performance Manager for the Queensland Academy of Sport, Bahnisch brings to the role a wealth of knowledge and experience guiding Australian athletes.
In his new role, he will be focused primarily on delivering three key objectives. Focus on pathway athletes in the US College system, further parent education framework delivery, and create greater focus, engagement, and connection with athletes at the 12-16 age bracket.
Prior to his role at the QAS, Bahnisch also worked in roles at the Victorian and South Australian Sports Institutes, Walford School for Girls and his experience across a wide-variety of sports such as volleyball, football, hockey, rugby 7s, water polo, and archery, and these systems will ensure the successfully delivery of the key objectives.
“It’s going to be really exciting. I’m really looking forward to it,” said Bahnisch.
“I’m very keen to be able to listen, observe, and learn from everyone. For me that’s a really big part, learning from people and understanding from them what’s working, where do we need to get better, and what are the opportunities. It’s an amazing role to help develop and contribute to the foundations for others to succeed in.
“From my experience at the Queensland Academy of Sport, I will bring the learnings from team sport environments, and I guess bigger squad environments.
“Being able to identify what are the skills or what are the transferables from other systems that you could bring into a golf environment will be important.
“I’m very grateful for the development and lessons learned through my time at the QAS, where I look forward to applying these experiences with our team at Golf Australia.”
Bahnisch will be with Australia’s top golf talent from the moment they are identified as a junior, all the way until they have established themselves as a professional.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Jamie on board to continue the success of the Golf Australia High Performance program,” said Brad James, Golf Australia’s General Manager – High Performance.
“Working with athletes, parents, coaches and Australian Golf stakeholders, Jamie will work collaboratively to help our golfers realise their potential.
“He brings aligned skills from his previous role in Queensland and other sports and will hit the ground running and be an invaluable asset to the team.”
To find out more about Golf Australia’s High Performance program, CLICK HERE.
Former Wisconsin volleyball standout Lola Schumacher commits to UCLA
Wisconsin volleyball unveils Final Four banner inside UW Field House The Badgers unveiled the banner from their 2023 Final Four appearance before their exhibition match against Bradley on Aug. 20. MADISON – Lola Schumacher is moving across the country, but she is staying in the Big Ten. The 5-foot-5 libero, who was an all-Big Ten […]
Wisconsin volleyball unveils Final Four banner inside UW Field House
The Badgers unveiled the banner from their 2023 Final Four appearance before their exhibition match against Bradley on Aug. 20.
MADISON – Lola Schumacher is moving across the country, but she is staying in the Big Ten.
The 5-foot-5 libero, who was an all-Big Ten freshman selection last season with Wisconsin, announced her transfer to UCLA on social media on May 15. She played 30 of 33 matches and had 23 starts. She missed three matches due to injury.
At UCLA Schumacher will be in the hunt for a starting role. One of the players the Bruins lost to graduation was their three-year starter at libero, Peyton Dueck.
Schumacher led the Badgers with 3.64 digs per set. She entered the program after receiving All-American distinction from Under Armour as a high school senior in Indiana.
UCLA plays Wisconsin at the Field House this upcoming season. The date of the match, along with the complete Badgers schedule, has not been announced.
Schumacher’s replacement in the starting lineup at UW may not have arrived on campus yet. Two highly regarded freshmen, Aniya Warren and Kristen Simon, are set to arrive next month.
Warren, a native of Lockport, Illinois, is one of 19 players selected to prepare for the FIVB Girls U19 World Championship. Simon, who is from Louisville, was the Gatorade state player of the year in Kentucky. Both players were MaxPreps first-team All-Americans.
The Badgers also return sophomore Maile Chan, who worked at the position during spring matches at the Field House.
More: Baylor transfer Allie Andrew commits to Kelly Sheffield, Wisconsin volleyball
Fast start propels Parkway Central to district quarterfinal win over Lafayette
By Greg Uptain | Special to the Post-Dispatch SAPPINGTON — A fast start was just what the doctor ordered for Peyton Dimmock and the Parkway Central water polo team. Dimmock scored three of his game-high four goals during a 7-1 first-half blitz and the Colts went on to an 11-8 win over Lafayette in a Missouri […]
SAPPINGTON — A fast start was just what the doctor ordered for Peyton Dimmock and the Parkway Central water polo team.
Dimmock scored three of his game-high four goals during a 7-1 first-half blitz and the Colts went on to an 11-8 win over Lafayette in a Missouri Water Polo district tournament boys quarterfinal game Thursday evening at Lindbergh High.
“That was huge,” said Dimmock, a junior. “Toward the end, they started to get a little comeback going. But that fast start just carried us all the way through the game.”
The fast start was somewhat of a surprise to Central coach Andrew Schonhoff.
“I didn’t see that coming. I thought it was gonna be a dogfight the entire time,” he said. “So obviously it was great to build ourselves a little bit of a cushion in the first half.”
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The slow start proved to be Lafayette’s undoing.
“Unfortunately, the first quarter did us in,” Lancers coach Jamie Waeckerle said. “They came ready to go and we were a little slow starting on the defensive end. You dig yourself a hole, sometimes you can’t get out of it and that’s kind of what happened.”
Familiar foes
The quarterfinal marked the fourth time Lafayette and Central had played this season.
The Colts won the first game 15-9, but the second meeting was a lot closer (a one-point Central win) and the third resulted in a Lancers victory.
“It was kind of going the opposite direction of what we wanted,” Schonhoff said. “Especially that third time we played them, they really had us figured out, so we knew that we needed to give them a different look this game.”
Colts spread the scoring love
As it is most nights, Central was paced by its leading scorer Dimmock. But the Colts were able to get offensive contributions up and down the lineup with six different players finding the back of the cage.
“We’ve got a lot of offensive weapons,” Schonhoff said. “Peyton attracts so much attention in the middle that we knew there were gonna be cross-cage opportunities. The big thing was to be patient with those.”
Dimmock said the emergence of younger players has helped Central get back to another final four.
“We’ve got these guys coming up from JV from last season and the season before and just the incredible step up they’ve all made,” he said. “They’ve helped not only myself get better, but the whole team.”
Lafayette ends strong season
Fifth-seeded Lafayette (19-9), which co-ops with neighboring rival Eureka, had high hopes for a semifinal berth coming in but couldn’t quite make it out of the quarterfinal round.
“Overall, a successful season,” Waeckerle said. “The 19 wins, I think, is maybe fourth-most in our history. We got a good seed to give ourselves a chance to make the semis, but we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Up next
Fourth-seeded Central (13-7) will see a familiar foe in the MWP semifinals when it takes on top seed SLUH (16-3) at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday at Pattonville High.
The Colts and Junior Billikens have squared off in each of the last two district championship games with Central winning two years ago and SLUH victorious last spring.
“Obviously, there’s a reason SLUH’s No. 1,” Schonhoff said. “Whether we play them in the final or the semifinal, if you want to win in Missouri, you’ve got to get through the best.”
Cris Cyborg plans PFL return against undefeated star after upcoming boxing match
Cris Cyborg has two more MMA fights left on her ‘legacy tour’. This weekend, the five-promotion women’s featherweight champion and one of the greatest fighters of all time will celebrate her 20th anniversary in MMA from inside the boxing ring. That’s right, Cris Cyborg will look to improve to 7-0 as a pro boxer when […]
Cris Cyborg has two more MMA fights left on her ‘legacy tour’.
This weekend, the five-promotion women’s featherweight champion and one of the greatest fighters of all time will celebrate her 20th anniversary in MMA from inside the boxing ring.
That’s right, Cris Cyborg will look to improve to 7-0 as a pro boxer when she takes on the 4-1 Precious Harris-McCray at Fight Night San Jose on Saturday.
Cyborg holds an impressive MMA record of 28-2 (1 NC) with many of those championship wins.
After her upcoming boxing match, Cyborg will look to have two more MMA fights in the PFL before she calls it a career, one of which she wants against an undefeated star.
Photo by Abdullah Ahmed/Getty Images
Cris Cyborg believes she’s fighting Bellator’s Sara Collins next
Earlier this week, 6-0 Bellator star Sara Collins tagged the champ Cyborg on an Instagram story, posing with the belt. Cyborg replied to Collins: “Be careful what you wish for…”
“I believe she’s gonna be my next opponent,” Cyborg confirmed to Bloody Elbow.
“She’s the next one on the line for the belt. Sara Collins, she’s the girl that beat Leah McCourt, she was the next challenger.”
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Ireland’s McCourt was long thought to be the next to face Cyborg for the Bellator title but before that could happen, Collins submitted her in the first round last September.
The Australian Collins also defeated Sinead Kavanagh, who was a former title challenger of Cyborg’s in Bellator.
“I believe she’s gonna be next,” Cyborg said of Collins.
“I’m excited. I like to think about the next fight in my line. Probably after this [boxing] fight, I’m gonna have the announcement for my next MMA fight.”
Cris Cyborg is enjoying the end of her run at 39
After 40 fights across combat sports, Cyborg still enjoys the journey in her 20th year of fighting.
Cyborg has fought the likes of all-time great Amanda Nunes, Holly Holm, Gina Carano, Cat Zingano, Marloes Coenen and many more.
“I enjoy it; I believe we are in the end—the end [of] the run. So, I’m really happy.
“I’ve been telling people, my legacy tour started in my last fight when I fought Pacheco.
“I have two fights left in my MMA career. I’m really happy.”
Cris Cyborg has 17 title wins between UFC, PFL, Bellator, Strikeforce and Invicta. Only three women have gone the championship distance with the Brazilian.
Cyborg once went on a 13-fight finish streak, cementing herself as one of the most destructive fighters we’ve ever seen.
Penn-Trafford knocks off 3rd-seeded Latrobe in Class 3A boys volleyball thriller
By: Paul Schofield Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 10:46 PM Paul Schofield | TribLive Latrobe senior Owen Ward hits against Penn-Trafford forward Ethan McDonald in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Thursday. Paul Schofield | TribLive Latrobe middle hitter Jayden Holnaider gets blocked by Penn-Trafford senior Owen Gisi during a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Thursday. Paul […]
Latrobe senior Owen Ward hits against Penn-Trafford forward Ethan McDonald in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Thursday.
Paul Schofield | TribLive
Latrobe middle hitter Jayden Holnaider gets blocked by Penn-Trafford senior Owen Gisi during a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Thursday.
Paul Schofield | TribLive
Latrobe setter Eric Bisignani sets up a teammate in a WPIAL 3A quarterfinal against Penn-Trafford on Thursday.
Paul Schofield | TribLive
Penn-Trafford senior Owen Gisi hits against Latrobe in the WPIAL 3A quarterfinals Thursday.
Paul Schofield | TribLive
Latrobe setter Eric Bisignani sets up a teammate in a WPIAL 3A quarterfinal against Penn-Trafford on Thursday.
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Penn-Trafford veteran boys volleyball coach Jim Schall looked exhausted after Thursday’s WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal against No. 3 Latrobe, and he did not even play.
But the cagey coach had his team ready for a thrilling match as his No. 6-seeded Warriors stunned the Section 2-3A champs, 3-2, by scores of 21-25, 28-26, 25-18, 18-25 and 16-14.
The Warriors (12-6), who lost twice to the Wildcats (16-2) in the regular season, will face No. 2 Seneca Valley in the semifinals Tuesday.
Schall said the match swung in the second game when his team started to serve better.
“Once we did that, we put them on their heels,” Schall said. “I am really proud of how we played. It was a tough match, and we put everything we had into it. I guess I did too.
“In Game 1, we did not give them much trouble with our serves. We served better starting in Game 2. We had some guys who really served well. We started putting them in some tough spots.”
Latrobe dominated the first game behind the setting of senior Eric Bisignani and the hitting of Owen Ward.
Penn-Trafford swung the momentum its way in Game 2 early, but Latrobe battled back and tied the score at 25. The Wildcats actually toook a 26-25 lead before the Warriors, behind kills by Caiden McDonald and Nick Laskey, rallied to tie the match, 1-1.
Schall felt Owen Gisi played well up front in all five games with his blocking ability.
The teams split the next two games, Penn-Trafford winning 25-18 and Latrobe answering 25-18, to set up the thrilling Game 5.
“This is playoff volleyball,” Latrobe coach Drew Vosefski said. “We had beaten them twice, but there is an old saying that when you get punched to the face, how much do you punch back? They punched back.
“Beating a team for a third time bothered me, but I am not going to make excuses. They played well, and I think we got the short of the stick on a few calls that we should have gotten.”
In a fifth game, the first team to 15, win by two, moves on. The game was close and went back and forth.
Penn-Trafford took a 12-10 lead, but the Wildcats tied it 12-12. P-T went back up 14-12 as Gisi, McDonald and setter Natheniel Rugh started making plays.
Latrobe senior Luke Fiore tied the score at 14 with a service ace, but the next serve sailed long, setting up the final point and McDonald finished it with a block.
“That was a tremendous team we beat,” Schall said. “They have an excellent setter and hitter. But we stepped up. I knew we would have to be really good, and I thought we’d be in the ballgame.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
