Osteoarthritis is most common from the age of 50 and is the most common joint disease. Osteoarthritis can occur in many different joints in the body.
For example back, hip, knee, foot, toes, fingers, elbow and shoulders. Osteoarthritis will affect a large part of the population, how troublesome it is varies a lot. You can actually have osteoarthritis visible on an X-ray without any symptoms whatsoever.
The disease is caused by the articular cartilage gradually breaking down in the joint. The articular cartilage then becomes thinner, less elastic, has a poorer shock-absorbing function and bone deposits can also occur.
Typical symptoms are pain, stiffness and reduced mobility in the joint. Other common symptoms are also that it gets worse when you have been still for a while. For example, after sitting still or in the morning after lying down all night.
A physically active lifestyle and good general health have been proven to have a good effect on osteoarthritis and also prevention against osteoarthritis. It has also been seen that strength training (preferably with as heavy weights as possible) can slow down or stop the breakdown of joint cartilage!
When you start exercising, it may hurt a little at first. Keep an eye on how long after the session the pain persists, as well as whether you get any swelling/warmth.
If the pain lasts for more than 24 hours and you get symptoms of swelling, you can back off and train a little easier. On a pain scale of 0-10, a 3a is perfectly fine!