Work and workouts too often conspire to sabotage your sleep. We’ve all been there: putting in a late shift to hit a deadline, then racking up some reps before bedtime. But rather than knocking you out, this overexertion can leave you buzzing, which plays havoc with your health and progress.

Not only is missing out on Zs linked to heart trouble, but deep sleep is also when your body floods your system with the restorative hormones HGH and testosterone. Thankfully, there’s a pill for that, and it actually works. Scientists at Manouba University have found that melatonin will put sleep trouble to bed and make you a fitter man come morning.

Athletes who popped 10mg of melatonin after an intensive 8pm training session slept 25 minutes longer on average than a placebo group. But the Tunisian researchers found that the benefits went well beyond a better rest.

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When members of the study group were subjected to a Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test (similar to a bleep test) after waking, the supplement helped them to outperform their own scores from the previous night by 82m.

Melatonin is not available over the counter in the UK, and we suggest consulting your doctor before use and sourcing it only for the nights you really need it. For everyday benefits, a pre-bed snack of pineapple and banana naturally boosts melatonin by 300%.

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