Allright, at my age and physical condition, a few hours of moving furniture will make me hurt the next day. Imagine all the minor injuries a Fighting-man would pick up in the course of a days adventuring. Even if he suffered no major wounds, the scrapes, bruises, sprains and more serious, but non-lethal damage, would add up and take their toll. Without magical healing, he could easily be at far less than 100% for several days, or even weeks afterward.
Check out a pro-football injury report. A lot of folks with groin injuries. A back and knee injury. Head injuries, toe injuries, etc. I see a Status listing, which I presume means whether or not the players are expected to make the next game. I see a lot of Probable listings. Some are Questionable. Pro-football players, play through the pain. But they're not at 100%. And what with all the practicing and playing during the week, I would imagine they're unlikely to get there, not without several weeks of rest or some Magical Healing.
The AD&D healing rates may be too stringent, but I don't think they're as unrealistic as some folks maintain. How many times a week can an adventurer head into the dungeon, get battered, banged, cut-up and concussed, before he's got to stop? All these non-lethal injuries add up, seriously hampering the characters' fighting ability and thus his Hit Points.
I've got this written up currently and while I think it's too generous, the Stimulationist must ultimately knuckle under to the needs of gameplay.
Healing
There are several means of acquiring magical healing, but sometimes a Character may be in a position where he must heal naturally. Applying first aid will automatically restore 1 Hit Point. A night of rest will restore 2 Hit Points. A day of uninterrupted rest will restore 2 Hit Points per level of the Character. Four weeks of rest will always restore a Character to his full Hit Point total.
