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Can you over use foam rolling? what are the negative impacts? I'm using it 3x a week post weight routines. Has anyone had any negative experiences?

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    Anecdotally I've been using it minimum 3 times/week for over two years and have not developed any problems. The extent to which a particular muscle is worked can be over done. If you get to the point where it is too tired or too painful to relax the bone into the roller and you're just riding around on top of a hard/contracted muscle, that is backward progress.
    – Affe
    Commented Oct 10, 2012 at 17:54

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You can probably overuse it in the sense of working a particular area for too long in one go, like 10 minutes straight instead of 3-5 minutes on one spot, but everything I've read on myofascial release suggests even several times per day is fine, so 3x per week is definitely not anywhere near potentially causing overuse.

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Almost certainly not.

I routinely foam roll for at least half an hour a day, sometimes more (I train twice a day and hit the roller before and after practices). The benefits of using it are just too many to list; improved range of motion, improved bloodflow, reduced soreness, added flexibility (when combined with static stretching), and on and on.

Then again, misuse of the roller, or using it for an extended period of time first-time out can easily result in some unexpected soreness.

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  • From your second source: "FR negatively affected several evoked contractile properties of the muscle, except for half relaxation time and EMD". Could you explain this in layman's terms?
    – Alec
    Commented Jan 12, 2017 at 9:48

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