The Role of the Brain in Muscle Failure

The connection between brain and muscle is key. Lifting weights, running long distances, jumping as high as you can all require different signals from the brain to different muscles in the body. Working out is like teaching the brain which signal is sent and how to send it. Scientists who study this stuff have two categories for fatigue. Central fatigue means the signals coming from the brain are getting diluted along the central nervous system. Peripheral fatigue means that the muscles themselves aren't responding very well to the signals from the Brain.