It has been almost exactly one year since I put my foam rollers in the corner of my home gym to collect dust.  In March of 2017 I listened to an episode of the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast and Jacob Schoen, of SHIFT Sport and Wellness, was a guest.  They discussed spinal health, ELDOA methodology, importance of understanding fascia, foam rolling, and more.  One of the key takeaways from their discussion for me was that I needed to try ELDOA stretching and also my foam roller may be doing me more harm than good.  Jacob mentioned that there is a possibility that aggressive foam rolling could actually be putting too much pressure on the fascia, arteries, veins, and nerves, and also pushing water out the areas being worked.  He also mentioned that, while rolling or smashing an injured area may provide some pain relief and improved range of motion, the quality of tissue that is repairing in that area may be poor.  I was intrigued.  Had I been doing something that was potentially more harmful than helpful? I had been suffering for a couple of years with a chronic hamstring injury.  I injured it on a run and was continuing to have trouble with it, despite a bout of physical therapy.  I told the physical therapist I was foam rolling and was told to “keep it up”.  Also foam rollers have been a hot item in the fitness industry for many years, touted for their benefits found in studies to decrease soreness, increase range of motion, and improve performance.   As many of you know, I am a protocol junkie, and the evidence seemed to point to smashing and rolling as a “no brainer” for any workout program.  As such, I dutifully did smashing and foam rolling on the injured area and everywhere else fairly regularly. I would smash and foam roll pre-workout and post-workout on most days, and fairly aggressively mind you. I never got any better.  I would go out for a run and feel that nagging, pulling, twinge feeling almost immediately and throughout the run.  I have trained through, and recovered from, a million injuries but this one just wouldn’t let go.  When I listened to the aforementioned show with Ben and Jacob I started to wonder if the foam rolling and smashing was harming me.  Maybe I was squishing water out and building up yucky scar tissue in the injured area.  If so, I wasn’t doing myself any favors and not allowing it to heal properly.I will share my personal science experiment with you.  It is an n=1 experiment so I will admit it isn’t super scientific, but perhaps some of you have been trying to smash an injury into oblivion like I was.  Maybe you are wishing for a miracle with the roller but it hasn’t come true, as was I.  Maybe you just need to try a different approach and take a break from rolling and smashing, like I did.  Maybe leaving the tissue alone to heal is a good idea.  On March 21, 2017, I decided to set aside the foam roller.  I was nervous that I would fall apart without it though!  I had been using it almost daily for years.  But my fears subsided quickly because I started to feel better almost right away. I looked back at my journal and on March 23, 2017, 2 days after I ditched the foam roller, I see I wrote “Did bike/run brick with no foam rolling and was fine.  Performance was ok”.  It was almost like I was surprised that my leg didn’t fall off!  Then later in the year on May 20, 2017, I wrote “Did the Dragons triple triathlon and didn’t notice hamst...