# Sleep, naps and recovery > Most adults need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, and regular activity tends to help you sleep. A short nap, around 15 to 30 minutes early in the afternoon, can lift energy. If you often need long daytime naps, talk to your doctor. - Type: Guide - Topic: Health, Safety & Recovery › Rest & Recovery - Reviewed by: Andrew Schox, BSc(Hons) PGradDipPod MPod, Podiatrist (2026-10-21) - URL: https://twikka.com/learn/sleep-naps-and-recovery - Updated: 2026-10-21 - **Most adults need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night:** feeling constantly tired in the day suggests you may not be getting enough [1]. - **Sleep and activity help each other:** regular exercise tends to improve sleep [2]. - **Short naps tend to help with energy:** an afternoon nap of under 30 minutes tends to reduce sleepiness and lift mood [3]. - **Very long daytime naps are worth a conversation with your doctor:** naps of 60 minutes or more are linked with higher heart disease and death risk, though that may reflect underlying illness [4]. ## Why does sleep matter for physical recovery? Sleep is when your body does much of its muscle repair and hormone balancing after activity, according to health advice [5]. How much of your recovery comes from sleep alone isn't clear [3], so think of sleep as one part of recovery, not a fix on its own. Most adults need about 7 to 9 hours a night, and a joint statement from two sleep societies says adults should sleep 7 or more hours on a regular basis [6]. Going without sleep, fully or partly, tends to leave you sleepier, less alert and with higher markers of inflammation [7]. It has also been suggested, though not proven, that too little sleep may tip your muscles towards breaking down rather than rebuilding [8]. Without enough recovery time you may stop making progress, feel tired all the time or be more likely to get injured [5]. Signs to watch for are muscle soreness that lingers, low energy or unusual tiredness, irritability or low mood, and feeling sluggish during activity [5]. Unusual tiredness isn't something to push through or just ease off for: get it checked by a doctor. The link runs both ways. Regular exercise tends to improve sleep, with small gains in how long and how efficiently you sleep and a moderate gain in how good your sleep is [2]. - **Keep regular bed and wake times.** - **Keep your bedroom quiet, dark and cool.** - **Count gentle, regular activity** as something that can help your sleep. > **Try this:** For the next week, get up at the same time each day and go to bed at about the same time. Notice whether you feel tired during the day. ## Are naps good for recovery and energy? Short naps probably help with energy. A short afternoon nap of under 30 minutes tends to reduce sleepiness and tiredness and to improve mood and how well you do a task, in both older and younger people [3]. Timing matters too: naps early in the afternoon, before about 1 p.m., tend to work better for thinking and focus than later ones [9]. Very short naps of 5 to 15 minutes bring benefits almost straight away, lasting about 1 to 3 hours [10]. A 30-minute nap gives a good balance of practicality and benefit. Allow about 40 to 45 minutes in total, because it usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to fall asleep [11]. Health New Zealand says a 15-minute nap just before a shift can promote alertness [12]. Longer naps can cost you at night: a nap of 120 minutes seems to lengthen the time taken to fall asleep that night [13]. If naps are keeping you awake at night, make them shorter or earlier. These tips may not fit if you have a sleep disorder or work night shifts [9]. Naps in the early afternoon have been linked with better physical performance and less tiredness in young athletes and active people [14]. Whether naps speed physical recovery for inactive adults isn't clear yet, so treat a nap as a way to top up your energy. Very long naps are different. Daytime naps of 60 minutes or more a day are linked with higher heart disease and death risk, while naps under 60 minutes a day are not [4]. People who take long naps may already be unwell, so the link may not mean the naps cause harm [4]. ## When to check with a health professional If you're starting exercise after a long break, it's always a good idea to see your doctor first. For an injury or a health condition, see a health professional, such as your doctor or a physio. If you're worried you sleep too little or too much, talk to your doctor or another healthcare provider [6]. Snoring or breathing pauses at night, heavy sleepiness in the day, or often needing long daytime naps are also worth raising with a doctor. They can point to a problem such as sleep apnoea, and long napping may be a result of poor night-time sleep rather than a habit to fix [4]. Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure (or pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back, especially with sweating or feeling sick), severe breathlessness, fainting or collapse, signs of a stroke, a serious injury, or someone who isn't safe. ## Quick answers ### Why do I feel groggy after a nap? That groggy feeling on waking is called sleep inertia. Keeping a nap short, around 20 to 30 minutes, is the usual way to avoid it. After waking, give yourself a few minutes: walking around for 5 minutes helps you wake up properly before driving or doing anything demanding. ### Why am I still tired when I'm getting enough hours? Hours are only part of healthy sleep. Quality, timing, regularity and the absence of sleep disorders matter too, so 7 to 9 hours in bed doesn't always mean you feel rested. If the tiredness feels unusual or won't shift, it's worth raising with your doctor. ## Sources 1. NHS. Insomnia. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insomnia/ 2. Kredlow MA et al. (2015). The effects of physical activity on sleep: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9617-6 3. Vyazovskiy VV (2015). Sleep, recovery, and metaregulation: explaining the benefits of sleep. Nature and Science of Sleep. https://doi.org/10.2147/nss.s54036 4. Yamada T et al. (2015). Daytime Napping and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality: A Prospective Study and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis. Sleep. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.5246 5. Queensland health advice (2025). Why rest, recovery and sleep matter more than you think. https://hw.qld.gov.au/blog/rest-and-recovery/ 6. Watson NF et al. (2015). Recommended Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Adult: A Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4716 7. (2009). The effects of sleep deprivation on sleepiness, performance, stress and immune system. Glas. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20666119/ 8. Dattilo M et al. (2011). Sleep and muscle recovery: endocrinological and molecular basis for a new and promising hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2011.04.017 9. Dutheil F et al. (2021). Effects of a Short Daytime Nap on the Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910212 10. Lovato N, Lack L (2010). The effects of napping on cognitive functioning. Progress in Brain Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-53702-7.00009-9 11. Leong RLF et al. (2023). Influence of mid-afternoon nap duration and sleep parameters on memory encoding, mood, processing speed, and vigilance. Sleep. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad025 12. Health New Zealand. Sleep. https://www.healthnz.govt.nz/health-topics/keeping-healthy/sleep 13. Souabni M et al. (2022). Benefits and risks of napping in older adults: A systematic review. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2022.1000707 14. Du P et al. (2026). Multiple Health Outcomes of Daytime Napping: A Comprehensive Umbrella Review. Public Health Reviews. https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2026.1609013 --- Source: Twikka (https://twikka.com/learn/sleep-naps-and-recovery). General information about physical activity, not medical advice.