Intercostal Muscle Strain

Hello, I am currently in week 4.6 of the Beginner Template. This was going to be my last week before switching to phase 2 of the program. After my first set of RPE 8 deadlifts, I felt a pain in the medial side of my lower right rib cage area. This pain increases with deep inhales and deep exhales and sometimes produces a sharp pain while bracing my core. I skipped the final set of deadlifts and finished my workout, reducing the weights of my next exercises. I still noticed the ribs, but the pain was low. The pain has persisted throughout the day, not improving or getting worse. My initial plan is to keep lifting, but with reduced load/volume as tolerated until the pain resolves. I have not seen a doctor and was not planning to unless the pain worsens. Currently, the pain is manageable and more of an inconvenience and annoyance.
Note: I fractured my ribs in that area in April, 2022. I was not lifting during that period of time.

My question is: Should I continue onto the next phase of the template or continue on the current phase at a reduced load/volume as tolerated until it feels healed?

Follow-up question: What exercises or modifications would you suggest as this issue resolves itself?

Thanks!

Hi,

This is one of those decisions that can feel important while you’re in the middle of a program, but when you zoom out over the course of an entire training career, really won’t “make or break” anything either way. I expect your symptoms should resolve relatively soon, particularly if loading is adjusted to avoid pissing things off more in the short term – and you can adjust the loading of either phase accordingly. So ultimately, I wouldn’t have a strong preference here.