Anderson Presents Webinar on Importance of Sleep

Napoleon High School graduate Todd Anderson talks on the importance of sleep for high-performing athletes during a webinar on Thursday.   Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV News.

By Jeff Steers
JTV News

Napoleon High School graduate Todd Anderson wanted to put everyone asleep during a webinar for CG Sports Management on Thursday.

That is figuratively not literally.

Anderson was a guest host for an hour-long webinar on the importance of sleep for high end athletes. The webinar was called Snooze, You Don’t Lose and more than 300 participated in the webinar.

Although the webinar was geared toward high-end athletes, the information was good for everyone in the battle of getting a good night of sleep.

His wife, three-time Olympic swimming medalist Katie Hoff, introduced Anderson to the audience.

Anderson said he studied the subject as part of his own self-learning. He knows the importance of sleep for optimal performance on the playing fields and pools. Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in health studies. He was a walk-on at MSU and eventually started as a fullback.

“There is not a lot of information on the subject of sleep,” Anderson said after the webinar. “I looked at studies from the University of Southern California, Stanford University, and the Mayo Clinic.”

Anderson discussed facts about sleep, the science of sleeping, sleep cycles, sleeping and the relevance for high performers, and having a good sleep environment.

He answered questions at the end of the webinar for 15 minutes.

“Hopefully people took away some quick, tangible changes in their lifestyles,” Anderson said.

Some of the changes included trying to go bed and waking up within two hours of a “normal time,” getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep and an optimal amount of eight to eight and a half hours of sleep, and creating a nighttime routine for going to sleep.

He currently works as the area personal training manager for Equinox of New York City.

“I work a lot on the business management side,” Anderson said.

Equinox has 105 health clubs and Anderson calls the company a luxury fitness brand. The company just opened its first hotel for business clients.

“Business people also want to function at their highest levels,” Anderson said. “I think these hotels will become more and more popular.”

Like everyone else, he is stuck at his home overlooking New York City – the area with the highest amount of coronavirus deaths. He has lived near NYC for a nearly a year.

“Everyone is very on edge right now,” Anderson said of the current situation. “It is almost like a (scary) movie.”