SHAPE reports on the three things that everyone gets wrong about recovery with a video and written article by Pamela Geisel, MS, CSCS, exercise physiologist at HSS.

Geisel explains that rest days are a necessary part of every active person’s exercise schedule and that is typically two days per week.

According to Geisel, the most important part of recovery is actually sleep. “If you’re someone who routinely gets only five hours of sleep and thinks that’s enough to get you by, I challenge you to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night for two weeks and re-evaluate how you feel,” she says.

Lastly, while some high-tech workout recovery tools may be useful, they cannot repair your muscles or boost HGH levels in the simple way that sleep can.

Read the full article and watch the video at Shape.com.