Okay, I take a class called Powerflex at Bally's Total Fitness and it involves weightlifting. The problem is whenever I do lunges or squats, my knees are really in pain the next day. It hurts to bend them

I'm not sure weather or not to continue doing them because I don't really feel sore except for in my knee area. Will my knees become stronger overtime or am I damaging them? Is this normal?

I have weird shaped knees too. They stick out and can be moved around with my hands so I'm thinking that might have to do with it.

Do you stretch well afterwards? Is it a "my muscles are sore" pain or is the pain in the joint.

You may also want to talk to someone about your form. Squats and Lunges are not hard on the knee joint if they are done in proper form. Of course, the problem is that they are really easy to do improperly! Lunges in particular!

A physiotherapist can probably assess your knees and your exercise form. I'd go get them checked out.

Going to second the vote to have someone check out your form. I have terrible knees (arthritis AND years of abuse from carrying way too much weight) and I have no trouble with either exercise. That being said, keeping the knee over the little toe side of the foot (always being able to see my big toe) AND not tracking forward - making sure the leg stays at a 90 degree angle and my body lowers STRAIGHT DOWN - are key for protecting the knee joint.

I second (or third) what the others have said about proper form. It's harder to do than you think; I see a lot of improper form on squats and lunges in the classes I take at the gym. See if you can get the instructor to help you before or after the class.

Stretching is also really important. My experience at Bally's is that the instructors don't always have the class do a really good stretch at the end. I usually end up stretching on my own after class.

You might want to try knee braces (the ones you can get at the drugstore with the hole over your knee cap), especially if the pain is under your knee cap and it particularly hurts to go down stairs. That can be caused by the knee cap sliding to the side when you bend your knee--it's the exact problem I have and the knee brace has definitely helped.

You also might want to try some exercises to strengthen your supporting leg muscles. Here are some exercises my doctor recommended that I do. These also include a couple of good stretches.

Another thing to try is icing your knees. You can do this in the evening while you are watching TV. Ice it for 15-20 min, then take the ice of for 40-45 min, then ice again for 15-20 min, etc. etc. Also, Ibuprofen can really help.

Another thing my sports medicine doctor recommended is massaging my knee. He told my to sit with my leg straight, to push my knee cap down towards my foot slightly (not a lot) and then lightly massage under the knee cap. I do it for 20 min or so every night when I watch TV. It is increases blood flow to the knee, which helps expand the blood vessels and generally improves circulation. When I first started doing it, my knee was pretty sensitive but it has definitely improved as I've continued to do it.

Finally, I've been rubbing Blue-Emu Oil on my knee and it has been a true miracle. I rub a nickle-sized dab on my knees twice a day and it's been the difference between not being able to run at all and being able to run intervals. My stepmom has arthritis in her knees and recommended it to me. I was very skeptical at first, but desperate, and it really has made a difference. It has glucosamine in it, which is supposed to help with joint pain.