Part 2 Should kids use machines or free weights?  By Eric Bonilla           

   Free weight training is dangerous.

    Kid's shouldn't lift free weights.

   Those are the statements I hear from parents and some coaches.

  If anything, machine based training can be more dangerous for   young athletes.

   For example, sport and  life  are done 3D( Three dimensional). We don't have the luxury of a chair or some type of pad to push off against in a game.

  For example,  by training on machines the athletes nervous system is being"wired" to perform in a state where no balance , coordination  or componets of proprioception are needed to perform the task.

     So by continued use of machines the athlete is actually exposing himself or herself to injury instead of   guarding against  it.

 As an example  leg extentions, work the quadriceps, and  involves one joint (the knee) whereas the squat involves three joints(hip,knee, ankle)with emphasis on not only quadriceps, but hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, and  other stabilizing muscles,besides working balance and coordination.
 

 Should an athlete use machines?  There is no question that athletes, and kids should be out of machines and on their feet. Sport is unpredictable and requires the body to react  with many different movements, and balance in many different ways.Machines in no way offer these benefits. Machines may have their use in the early stages of rehabilitation, but  they have no place in sports and functional training.