OK. i got a muscle spasm in my neck and down my back . hurts like crap. went to the doctor on friday he gave me some pills , its feeling better , still cant tilt my head though , i dont know if its related to lifting cause i started feeling a pain in my neck on thuesday already,

coming bACK 

to the point , sorry accdently entered , with a somewhat damaged back and neck muscle , would i have to not lift on monday etc , 

i really hate taking days off . but dont wna mess things up. 

basicly , if it feels better by monday , shall i lift or should i take a few days , doctor couldnt awnser the question to my satisfaction . 

doping chest/biceps monday

that would be scotts maximum growth on both of them

Anthony,

Pain is your body's way of saying something is damaged or will be soon.  Don't tempt fate.  The last thing you want is issues with your spine and disks.  Not only are they extremely painful but also they can require major sugery that could end or severely limit your lifting career.  I would think about when and how this problem started.  Was it after training a specific muscle group (like shoulders or back) or has it been a cummulative thing (it started as a mild strain but got progressively worse)?  Most injuries of this type are 95% due to either poor form/too much weight for a given exercise and/or muscle tightness in the target area.  The remaining 5% is due to past injuries/surgeries or bio-mechanical flaws in one's body.  Your doctor gave you either muscle relaxants or pain meds which is why you feel OK now.  

The bottom line is muscle spasms in and around your spine are your Erector Spinae (ES) muscles (which run up and down the whole length of your spine) doing their job to protect your spinal chord.  It is a downward spiral effect, however.  The minute your ES muscles detect some of your vertebrae are moving in a manor that will hurt your spinal chord from some movement/exercise you are doing, they immediately try to counter-act the force by flexing.  The opposite side senses this flexing which cause a pull on their side and they thus counter-act it by flexing because they are designed to keep your vertebrae straight.  They then get in this "protective" tug-of-war.  That is the spasms you feel.  If the doctor gave you muscle relaxants, they will make this stop.  However, the underlying imbalance or strain is still there.  You need to figure out what is causing it and give it time to heal.

I know the urge the train and how you feel miserable missing a scheduled training but the alternative is serious injury to your neck and back and no-lifting for a very long time or for good.  So the long winded answer is "No".  Don't lift until you feel OK when NOT using whatever pills the doctor gave you.  When you do lift, do so carefully and try to trace the steps that are causing the strain to begin with to prevent further injury/spasms.

John

thanx john . that puts it into perspective pretty well . and i do think i know when it happend . i did a 250kg cow press when i was 15 , that caused some weird crack soud and extrememe pain in my neck that basicly ended lifting for me until recently.

i think ill just do very light lifting the coming week , just for maintanance , like 20%. should give me some time to check form etc. 

No problem Anthony.  BTW, what is a cow press?  What you experienced sounds like you might have cracked a cervical vertebrae.  Did you have a doctor x-ray to see what happened?  Whether you cracked a vertebrae or not, you have now created a weakness in that area of your neck.  Your body is subconsciously aware of this so whenever you are doing lifts that involve that area the local muscles are going to go into overdrive to protect the weakness.  This will cause spasms.  I would make sure everything is OK first and then if it is, embark on a routine to strengthen the area.

John

Back in middle school I injured my back playing football and I had lower back spasms for the longest time. They suck and hurt so bad! John is right though, you have to give it time to heal. Like an idiot, I kept playing football and the pain would stay with me for months until I finally couldn't stand it anymore and sat out for a couple weeks. Eventually the pain went away and I was able to play again.

I had the same spasms again when I lifted to heavy during hyper extensions but I remembered from last time that i needed to just rest it and let it heal on its own. Luckily it only took a week of icing it and the pain was gone. I know it sucks to skip the gym, but just give yourself a few days and relax. You'll be back to lifting heavy in no time :)

cow press .lying at a 45 degree angle pushing a plate with wheights on it with your legs . thats whats its called here anyway , but yea, been having fun at work being in constant pain and all , hahaha , i have  a very physical job, so i figuired tomorrow chest and biceps ill do 50% wheught but lying flat on the floor , and biceps ill do seated curls . everything at a 1-3 tempo., i just can bare the idea of laying off for a week

and thx for the advice guys , really made me think