An active head restraint for a seating assembly of a motor vehicle comprises a structural support for a seatback of the seating assembly, a movable head restraint pad having a stowed position and a deployed position, and a linkage deployment mechanism. The linkage deployment mechanism comprises an upper and lower bar pivotally attached at a forward end to a rear surface of the movable head restraint pad and pivotally attached at a rearward end to an outer tube fixed to an upper portion of the structural support. An inner tube reciprocates within the outer tube. A trigger mechanism is operatively connected with a lower end of the inner tube and urges the inner linkage and an actuating link to a raised deployed position in response to a rear impact event. The actuating link applies an upward force to the lower bar to deploy the movable head restraint pad.