CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE November/December ISSUE | Page 114

Muscle activation techniques are an extremely
effective way of creating a stronger neuro-
muscular connection to a muscle group that
you want to improve. This could be something
as simple as contracting a specific muscle to its
shortest position. You can do this by
contracting a muscle for 6-8 seconds before
relaxing and repeating as many times as
necessary to “feel” that muscle.
Juan: Amazing tips for all of us looking to be our
best. Thank you Robin! Let's chat central nervous
system now. What exactly does it mean to be in a
sympathetic and in a parasympathetic state and
why is it important for us to know that?
Robin: The autonomic nervous system has two
main divisions. These are the sympathetic
nervous system and the parasympathetic
nervous system.
The sympathetic nervous system is your “fight
or flight” response, which is important for
increasing heart rate, respiratory rate, and
blood flow to working muscles when the body
detects a threat such as being under a heavy
load.
The parasympathetic nervous system is your
“rest and digest” function, which allows muscles
to relax, heart rate to decrease, and the
digestive system to work optimally.
The reason why it is important to know the
difference is because these two systems
generally do not function well at the same time.
Juan: Very interesting Robin. So if these two
systems do not generally work well synergistically
at the same time, which one should we strive to be
in?