Despite the massive amount of chatter in the fitness world about it and their popularity as buzzwords, the concept of “muscle activation” via specific “prehab” or “motor control” exercises is essentially useless and meaningless. It has basically no scientific support in any reputable trial.
The best way to “activate” your muscles for an activity is to simply do the activity you’re warming up for at a slightly lower intensity working up to your desired intensity. Your body will use whatever muscles it needs at the intensity it needs them during the exercise (this is motor unit recruitment and is well supported in the scientific literature). It won’t preferentially recruit muscles during a workout just because you somehow “activated” them before the workout.
That being said, there is anecdotal evidence that some things (myofascial release, foam rolling, etc.) have a positive placebo effect on people. So if something works for you, do it. If it doesn’t, which seems to be the case for you, then don’t do it. There’s no evidence it helps so you’re not missing out on anything.
There’s a good discussion of it in the context of what constitutes an effective warm-up on this podcast. They chatter for a while at the point this link kicks in but the seriously relevant information starts around the 29:30 mark.
Tangentially, this article is mostly focused on mental activation cues in strength applications but the takeaway is relevant: “activation” happens from using the muscle in the course of the desired application not from internal cueing.