Soreness and development of arthritis/carpel tunnel is usually due to not warming up properly.Its good you made the comparison of weight lifting.If you dont stretch right before lifting,you may pull a muscle and WILL be sore soon after.The original guitarist of Immortal supposedly lost his ability to play guitar(without pain)from not warming up before rehearsal sessions...it didnt help that he and the band lived in a freezing climate.At least run up and down the chromatic scale slowly increasing speed to warm up your hands and if possible,play somewhere warm...cold hands make even power chords a difficult task.I live in massachusetts so it gets freezing during the winter(so much for global warming!)My friends basement becomes an ice tomb...thats where we jam alot too.Cold leather jackets,chains,guitars,guitar strings,heartless solid state amps,metal chairs,snow inside sockless shoes,lack of personnel space,insane wind chill...and freezing hands=one lousy jam session.bbrrrrrr!!!
I'm moving to florida or Cali!

Later! \m/