Articular cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis has been linked to abnormal mechanical stresses that are known to cause chondrocyte apoptosis and metabolic derangement in in vitro models. Evidence implicating oxidative damage as the immediate cause of these harmful effects suggests that the anti-oxidant defenses of chondrocytes might influence their tolerance for mechanical injury. Based on evidence that anti-oxidant defenses in many cell types are stimulated by moderate oxidant exposure, we hypothesized that oxidant pre-conditioning would reduce acute chondrocyte death and proteoglycan depletion in cartilage explants after exposure to abnormal mechanical stresses. Porcine cartilage explants were treated every 48 hours with tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide (tBHP) at non-lethal concentrations (25, 100, 250, 500 µM) for a varying number of times (1, 2 or 4) prior to a bout of unconfined axial compression (5 MPa, 1 Hz, 1800 cycles). When compared with untreated controls, tBHP had significant positive effects on post-compression viability, lactate production, and proteoglycan losses. Overall, the most effective regime was 100 µM tBHP applied 4 times. RNA analysis revealed significant effects of 100 µM tBHP on gene expression. Catalase, hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α), and glyceraldehyde 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) were significantly increased relative to untreated controls in explants treated 4 times with 100 µM tBHP, a regime that also resulted in a significant decrease in matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) expression. These findings demonstrate that repeated exposure of cartilage to sub-lethal concentrations of peroxide can moderate the acute effects of mechanical stress, a conclusion supported by evidence of peroxide-induced changes in gene expression that could render chondrocytes more resistant to oxidative damage.