How Activating the Central Nervous System Before a Workout Improves Performance

A proper warm-up is key to improving performance, reducing injury risk, and helping your body transition smoothly into a workout. While most people focus on physical movements, one often-overlooked factor is the importance of activating your central nervous system (CNS). By priming your CNS, you signal to your brain and muscles that you’re about to exert energy. The better you communicate your intentions with your body, the better you’ll feel and perform during your workout session.

This isn’t only for elite athletes. Regardless of your experience level, activating your CNS before a workout is an effective strategy to maximize performance and get the most out of your training.

Understanding the Central Nervous System

The CNS, composed of your brain and spinal cord, is the communication hub that controls your body’s activities. It sends signals via the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which extends throughout your body and helps relay information to your muscles, organs, and other systems. The PNS has two divisions: the somatic nervous system (SNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

• The SNS is responsible for voluntary movements, such as lifting weights or performing exercises.
• The ANS regulates involuntary functions like breathing, heart rate, and digestion. While the ANS controls actions we can’t consciously control, it can still be influenced during a workout.

As Raquel Harris, FightCamp trainer and Team USA Gold Medalist, explains, “The central nervous system regulates breathing, movement, and muscle contraction during a workout.” By activating the CNS, you’re essentially waking up your body’s communication system, preparing it to perform at its best.

Benefits of CNS Activation

Activating your CNS before starting resistance training can have several key benefits:

• Increased performance: Activating your CNS helps recruit more muscle fibers, which leads to better strength and power.
• Breaking through plateaus: CNS activation can give you the neural drive necessary to push past training plateaus.
• Improved coordination and balance: By priming your nervous system, you increase your body’s ability to coordinate movements under physical stress, enhancing your ability to handle weights and resistance.

Your autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role here as it has two parts: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system prepares your body for stress—“fight or flight”—while the parasympathetic system is responsible for relaxation and recovery—“rest and digest.”

After exercise, it’s essential to shift to a parasympathetic state. You can do this by engaging in relaxation techniques like stretching, foam rolling, or deep breathing exercises. These activities help your body cool down, ease muscle tension, and lower the production of stress hormones, promoting recovery and reducing the chance of injuries.

Why Activating the CNS Is Key to Performance

Priming your CNS is crucial for boosting performance and minimizing injury risk. Think of it like turning on the engine of a car—activating your nervous system gets everything running and ready to go. This process is referred to as post-activation potentiation (PAP). PAP is a well-researched phenomenon that shows how pre-activation of the nervous system helps increase force production and improve your workout results.

By increasing your ability to recruit motor units—the clusters of muscle fibers responsible for generating force—you can lift heavier weights and execute movements more efficiently. Essentially, the more motor units you activate, the more strength you can generate.

Additionally, activating the CNS enhances muscle memory, which is crucial for progression. If you’ve ever returned to training after a break or started a new workout routine, you may have felt awkward or less coordinated at first. Over time, your brain adapts, and your movements feel smoother. This is due to the development of neural drive, not necessarily improved physical ability. Your body learns how to execute movements more efficiently through repeated practice and CNS activation.

How to Activate Your CNS for Resistance Training

Now that you understand the theory behind CNS activation, let’s break down how to practically apply it to your workout. Luckily, activating your CNS doesn’t require complex techniques or time-consuming routines. With just a few simple steps, you can prime your body for action and improve performance.

1. Perform a General Warm-Up

The first step is to perform a general warm-up. This involves light, low-intensity aerobic exercise that helps increase blood flow and prepare your muscles for more intense work. A general warm-up has numerous benefits:

• It increases heart rate and blood circulation
• It improves nerve impulse transmission speed
• It enhances nutrient delivery to muscles
• It accelerates the removal of metabolic by-products
• It helps increase flexibility and range of motion in joints

Start with 5-10 minutes of aerobic activity at a moderate intensity (RPE of 5-6), like light jogging, cycling, or rowing. The goal is to raise your body temperature and stimulate circulation without fatiguing yourself. You should be able to talk comfortably during this stage.

2. Add Dynamic Movements

After your general warm-up, it’s time to incorporate dynamic stretches or bodyweight movements to further activate your CNS. Dynamic movements such as leg swings, high knees, or hip rotations will help you transition into more explosive exercises. These movements warm up your muscles, improve mobility, and increase heart rate, setting you up for the heavier lifting to come.

Sample Dynamic Warm-Up:

• 30 seconds of skipping
• 30 seconds of hops
• 30 seconds of squat jumps
• 30 seconds of right power kicks
• 30 seconds of left power kicks
• 30 seconds of plank tucks

These exercises are not only great for warming up but also for engaging your muscles in preparation for more demanding movements.

3. Incorporate Explosive Movements

Explosive movements are essential for activating your CNS, especially if your workout involves lifting heavy weights or performing high-intensity exercises. Explosive exercises require speed and power, which help prime your nervous system for optimal performance.

For example:

• Jump squats or box jumps before leg day
• Kettlebell swings or cleans before deadlifting
• Medicine ball slams or plyometric push-ups before bench pressing

Performing these exercises before your main sets will help activate your muscles, increase your power output, and further prepare your body for the intense work ahead.

4. Advanced Techniques for Experienced Lifters

For seasoned lifters, you can incorporate a near-maximal effort lift (e.g., 85% of your one-rep max) as part of your warm-up. This should be done with caution, and only if you have a spotter and are confident in your form. This technique helps activate your CNS more effectively, especially when you’re about to perform high-velocity movements like sprints or jumps.

Final Thoughts

Warm-ups are not just for injury prevention—they play a key role in activating your central nervous system to enhance workout performance. By adding dynamic stretches and explosive movements, you engage your CNS, increasing your ability to recruit muscle fibers, lift heavier weights, and push through plateaus.

Next time you prepare for a workout, don’t skip your CNS activation. A few minutes of proper warm-up techniques will make a huge difference in your training results and reduce the risk of injury.