Foam Rolling
Self-massage and balance training for NSEA swimmers. Rolling before practice helps you move more freely, and rolling after helps you feel less sore. The balance work builds the core and body control that keep you long and tight in a streamline. Pick an area on the body map, set the timer, and check off each exercise as you go.
- Roll muscle, not bone or joints . Skip the lower back, neck, kneecap, back of the knee, and the bony point of the hip.
- Some discomfort is fine. Sharp pain, numbness, or tingling means stop and move the roller. Don't roll a fresh injury, bruise, or swollen area.
- Balance work: go barefoot if you can, stay near a wall on a non-slip floor, and master each level on the floor first. Standing on full-round rollers is coach-supervised only .
- This is for healthy swimmers. If something hurts during swimming, talk to your coach and an athletic trainer or physical therapist.
How to roll
Shorter before practice, longer after.
Firm but you can still breathe normally. Use a hand or foot to take weight off.
About an inch per second. Pause on tight spots and breathe.
Before: a quick pass, then your normal warm-up. After: slower, as part of the cool-down.
Balance training
Or 8–10 slow reps for squats, reaches, and push-ups.
Floor first, then half roller flat side down, then flat side up, then full round.
Keep your joints lined up. When you bend, use your hips, knees, and ankles together.
Tap your level on each card. Only move up when the current one is steady.
Pick an area
Tap a highlighted area on the front or back of the body to find the exercise that rolls it. Rolling works best on the big muscles swimmers use most: the lats and upper back for the pull, and the hips, quads, and calves for kicks and walls.
Exercises
Source. Adapted from the M-F Athletic Company handout Multiple Uses of Biofoam Rollers (Perform Better), which covers self-myofascial release with 1-ft and 3-ft round rollers and balance training with half-round and full-round rollers. Figure numbers on the balance cards match that handout. Three cues have been updated to current practice (marked Updated cue ).
Why rolling works. The handout says rolling relaxes muscle through the Golgi tendon organ. Current research points more to the nervous system: rolling lowers how much tension and soreness you feel and gives a short-term gain in range of motion, without hurting performance. It doesn't physically stretch or "break up" fascia. See Behm & Wilke (2019), Sports Medicine ; Wiewelhove et al. (2019), Frontiers in Physiology ; Chaudhry et al. (2008), Journal of the American Osteopathic Association .
Videos are third-party demonstrations on YouTube and Physitrack, chosen to match each movement. They are not produced or endorsed by NSEA. When a video differs from this guide, follow the written steps and cues here. The advanced standing exercises have no video on purpose; learn them from a coach at practice.
NSEA Swim dryland reference, updated Oct 2026. This guide is for injury prevention and recovery in healthy swimmers and is not medical advice. Rehab after an injury should be guided by a licensed athletic trainer or physical therapist.