Former Navy Seal says he's never heard of famous sleeping techniques

A former Navy Seal has claimed that he's 'never heard' of the widely reported military sleeping techniques soldiers were thought to use on the battlefield.

US Navy Seal Ryan Bates lifted the lid on his time in the military ahead of the release of his brutal new Netflix series, Toughest Forces on Earth. Check out the trailer:

Bates has teamed up with former US Army Ranger Cameron Fath and ex-British Special Forces operator Dean Stott to test themselves against the most gruelling military training regimes in the world.

The series takes a candid look at modern day military and what soldiers go through, undertaking challenges with eight different military units in eight different countries.

Some of the challenges they faced while filming the TV series included plunging into an unforgiving ice hole, dealing with the different climates and weather in each episode, and Cameron's biggest foe: Food poisoning.

The show isn't make believe either, as they trained with real ammunition in Malaysia and even worked with the secretive Mexican anti-cartel unit.

In a chat with LADbible, we asked Bates about the famous military 'sleeping technique' 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 don't have a clue what I'm talking about, the hack became famous in 1981, when the US army published a book, titled Relax and Win: Championship Performance.

It basically says that in order to drift off, all you need to do is relax the muscles in your face, including your tongue, lower your shoulders and arms, and exhale, relaxing your chest and legs.

Mentally, they say you should then imagine either being in a canoe with a clear sky above you, lying in a dark room in a velvet hammock, or repeatedly say 'Don't think, don't think, don't think' to yourself for 10 seconds.

Despite all of this, the big revelation was that Ryan never had to use the method, saying that he 'didn't know' what the method was.

He explained: "A lot of our missions are pretty gruelling in Afghanistan. You're patrolling, 10/15 kilometres in a night with 70/80 pounds on your back,

"I passed out pretty easily. I never had trouble passing out. You're always tired as a Seal. I probably have more trouble going to sleep these days with kids."

It speaks levels for a lot of parents, who will no doubt use this line on their children.

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

He joked: "I might need to read that book now, maybe that'll help me."

But what about dealing with pain? Well, all three of them definitely had a technique for that: Ibuprofen.

Ryan explained that if you could walk, you'd carry on so you wouldn't let your team down, with adrenaline playing a big part.

Dean agreed, and Cameron expanded on how it was used: "I say the healthy amount is around 500mg. In the US military, they give you a pill about that big (making a big circle with his thumb and index finger) and it's 800mg."

That was how they did it - the same way we deal with a sore throat.

Toughest Forces on Earth is streaming on Netflix now.