A lot of new guitarists complain about soreness in the hands
and fingers. The fingers get sore, and there is not much that
can be done about that, but with proper warm ups and stretches
you can prevent RSI ( Repetative Strain Injury ) in the wrist
and fingers. 
When an athlete does a 100M sprint, he goes through a set of
warm ups and stretches first to prevent cramps, and increase
blood flow through the body. The same applies with your fingers
and hands when playing guitar. With proper warming up, and stretching,
you may find that you can move more efficiantly over the fret
board when soloing, and make your chord shapes when playing
progressions without any pain, or minimal pain from wrist
movements. 
There is no need to add a warm up, as there are already some
warm ups in the lessons forum, but I will walk you through
some basic finger stretches.
Before stretching, play your usual warm up, wether it be scales, 
or one of the warm ups in the forum. I play through some basic
scales when I warm up, like the major scales or the pentatonics.


Stretch 1

With this stretch, it is just a warm up stretch, and is not
sufficient enough to do the job. Hold your arms straight
in front of you with your palms facing away from you, fingers
pointing up. Now open your fingers as wide as you can, and hold
it for ten seconds, you should be able to feel a stretch in
the back of your hands if done right. Relax, and shake your
hands out, wait 30 seconds, and do it again. Repeat this step
3 times.

Stretch 2

This stretch stretches your fingers, and alows better blood
flow to the tips of your fingers. Hold you hands with your palms
together, now fold them backwards so your fingers are arched back, be
careful not to crack your knuckles. Hold
for 10 seconds and release. Shake and repeat 3 times.

Stretch 3

This stretch stretches your wrist, and is a precaution for RSI
which usually effects the wrist. this one is done 2 ways, and
is a vital stret