Hello again. I purchased the low isf template a couple of months ago, and am pleased to say that it has really helped put things into perspective for me as far as intensity, volume/frequency, and fatigue. Things were going great up until week 5 when I injured my hamstring from attempting to progress in weight too quickly on split squats (a movement that I had never cycled into my training before). I felt a slight pop, and it was of course sore for a number of days with some minor bruising. I kept the template the same, and reduced weight on squats, deadlifts, and their supplemental lifts. I pushed myself a bit too hard when it started feeling better and “popped” it again during pin squats a couple of weeks later. I’m back to the point that it is feeling pretty good again, but am not allowing myself to push as hard as I would like in order to heal before jumping back in with both feet. Aside form this, my estimated 1rm on bench (which has been stagnant for a couple of years) has increased by 15-20 lbs over the last 7 weeks, so there has definitely been progress in that area.
I am in the middle of week 7, which seems to be a low stress or deload week. At the start of week 8, I feel I will be ready to start using some relatively challenging weight on squat and deadlift movements again. My question is, would my bench suffer if I just started the whole template back over from week 1? Would a better approach be to continue with the program and just modify the lower body movements as I get back to 100%. I assume I can maintain my gains on bench by starting over, but I’m curious what you guys might recommend if you were training someone in my situation. Obviously, there is probably a LOT more information that you would need, and that you would have if you were actually training/coaching me, but hopefully this is enough to point me in the right direction.
On another note, I love seeing new posts/videos of your training on social media/YouTube. I enjoy following your progress. Keep em coming!
Thank you,