Former Navy Seal says he’s never heard of famous sleep techniques

A former Navy Seal has claimed he had “never” heard of the widely known sleep techniques used by soldiers on the battlefield.

US Navy Seal Ryan Bates has given an insight into his time in the military ahead of the release of his brutal new Netflix series. The toughest forces on earth. Check out the trailer:

Bates has teamed up with former U.S. Army Ranger Cameron Fath and former British Special Forces member Dean Stott to face the toughest military training programs in the world.

The series takes an unadulterated look at the modern military and the experiences of soldiers as they face the challenges in eight different military units in eight different countries.

Some of the challenges they faced while filming the television series included jumping into an unforgiving ice hole, dealing with different climates and weather conditions in each episode, and Cameron’s greatest enemy: food poisoning.

And the show is no illusion, as they have trained with real ammunition in Malaysia and even worked with the secret Mexican anti-cartel unit.

In a chat with LADbible, we asked Bates about the famous military “sleep technique” that we’ve all heard so much about.

The weather and extreme conditions were the biggest challenge for the ex-soldiers. (Netflix)

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the hack became famous in 1981 when the US Army published a book called Relax and win: championship performance.

It essentially states that to fall asleep, all you need to do is relax the muscles in your face, including your tongue, lower your shoulders and arms, and exhale while relaxing your chest and legs.

Mentally, they say, you should then either imagine yourself in a canoe with a clear sky above you, lying in a velvet hammock in a dark room, or repeatedly saying “Don’t think, don’t think, don’t think” for ten seconds.

Despite all this, the big revelation was that Ryan never had to use the method and said he “didn’t know” what the method was.

He explained: “Many of our missions in Afghanistan are pretty grueling. You patrol 10 to 15 kilometers in a night with 30 to 40 kilos on your back,

“I fell asleep pretty easily. I never had any problems getting put to sleep. As a Seal, you’re always tired. I probably have more trouble falling asleep these days with kids.”

This speaks volumes for many parents who will undoubtedly use this saying with their children.

The three revealed aspects of their time in the military, with some answers more surprising than others. (Netflix)

He joked: “Maybe I need to read this book now, maybe it will help me.”

But how do you deal with pain? Well, all three definitely had a technique for that: ibuprofen.

Ryan explained that if you can run, you keep going so you don’t let the team down, and adrenaline plays a big role in that.

Dean agreed and Cameron explained how it was used: “I say the healthy amount is about 500 mg. In the US military, they give you a pill that’s about that size (he makes a big circle with his thumb and forefinger) and it contains 800 mg.”

That’s how they did it – the same way we deal with sore throats.

The toughest forces on earth is now streaming on Netflix.