My answer could be no for some strains such as Triangle Kush or a low producing plant, in that case I would say you need to bend it over preserving the bud sites like gold. But if it is not a low producing strain but rather a strain with tons of bud node sites I would definitely remove the popcorn nonsense.
Otherwise now is a perfect time to trim foliage from the plant because it is forming buds right now and you will leave it with excess root mass so that energy would conceivable be diverted to the roots. Just remember some side shoots are starting low on the stem so just remove the sections outside of the light penetration. (There's charts you can Google showing your penetration)
I typically train my plants in veg using multiple tops spreading them out and I also usually do my final transplant in veg and allow the plant to take hold before flowering. But when working with a new strain it isn't always coming in months ahead of time optimally allowing you to research, tune and develop it for flower.
P.S. Clean your tools with alcohol and make sure to remove the dead foliage from your flower room. Save for compost it's perfect.