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Jonnie Candito Strength & Powerlifting Program Spreadsheets

Jonnie Candito is a powerlifter and coach known for short, focused training blocks and programs that build one lift at a time. Every program below has a free spreadsheet that works out your weights from your maxes.

Which One to Run

  • 3 days a week or still adding weight weekly: the Linear Program.
  • Stalled, or a meet is coming: the 6 Week Program, or another peaking program.
  • One lift lagging: the matching advanced program.

More from Candito: Candito Training HQ and his YouTube channel.

Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench Press Program Spreadsheet

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Jonnie Candito’s Advanced Bench Program is a free 6-week bench specialization built for lifters who’ve stalled on the competition bench. You bench up to 5 days a week for the first 3 weeks, then drop to just 2 sessions a week for weeks 4 through 6. Each bench day pairs the flat bench with one primary press accessory and a couple of high-rep isolation lifts, and the loads run off your current 1RM early in the cycle, then off your goal max once you reach the peaking weeks.

Candito built this after a full year of stalled bench progress and nagging shoulder pain. He scrapped the “just bench more to bench more” approach and leaned on heavy barbell accessories, an RPE-based effort target on those accessories, and a much shorter taper than he runs on squat or deadlift. It’s the bench companion to his advanced squat program and advanced deadlift program, the same one-lift-at-a-time idea applied to the press.

This one is for advanced lifters, meaning your bench isn’t moving month to month anymore. If you’re still adding weight every few weeks, you’ll get more out of the Candito 6 Week Strength Program or the beginner-focused Candito Linear Program. There’s also a hybrid version that runs this bench work alongside the 6 Week Strength Program’s squat and deadlift.

[Read more…]

Candito Advanced 9 Week Squat Program Spreadsheet

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Jonnie Candito released this 9 week advanced squat program in 2016. Like his advanced deadlift program and advanced bench press program, it puts nearly all of its attention on one lift and holds the other two steady.

It is aimed at lifters who have plateaued on the squat specifically, or who have decided to prioritize it for a while. At 9 weeks it was the longest of his single lift programs when he released it, and the reasoning for that length is squat specific. His advanced deadlift program came later and runs longer still, at 10 or 14 weeks depending on the version you pick.

If you are still progressing on all three lifts at once, this is not the program to run. The Candito 6 Week Strength Program is the better fit in that case, since it trains all three.

[Read more…]

Candito 6 Week + Advanced Bench Press Hybrid Program

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The Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench Press Hybrid is a free 6-week bench specialization program by Jonnie Candito. It combines his Candito 6 Week Strength Program as the base for squat and deadlift work, then replaces the bench press entirely with his Advanced Bench Press Program. You’ll train 4 to 5 days per week over 6 weeks, with bench frequency ranging from 5 sessions per week in the early high-fatigue phase down to 2 per week in the volume block. Loading is driven by % of 1RM with an RPE column throughout.

The structure follows Candito’s Advanced Bench framework: weeks 1 to 3 are a maximum-fatigue block with high bench frequency and volume, week 4 drops frequency and adds specificity, week 5 hits a high-intensity peak set, and week 6 is the max-out. Squat and deadlift follow the standard 6-week progression alongside the bench work. The sheet also includes a Candito-prescribed deload week and a taper week sourced from Calgary Barbell’s structure (labeled as such, not Candito’s work).

This program is for advanced lifters who want to prioritize bench press while keeping squat and deadlift moving. You need to know your current 1RM for all three lifts and be familiar with RPE before you start. It’s not a beginner program. If you haven’t run the base Candito 6 Week Strength Program yet, start there first.

[Read more…]

Candito 10 or 14 Week Advanced Deadlift Program Spreadsheet

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Released in February 2018, this deadlift specific program is the latest in a long line of excellent powerlifting programs from Jonnie Candito.

This is an advanced deadlift program and should not be used by novice lifters. For the novice and intermediate lifter, check out Candito’s 6 Week Program or Linear Strength Programs.

The advanced deadlift program is structured as follows: [Read more…]

Jonnie Candito Linear Program Spreadsheet

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The Candito Linear Program is a free 4-day-per-week upper-lower program from Jonnie Candito. You run it with one of three emphasis variants — Control, Power, or Hypertrophy — that modify the secondary days while keeping the heavy days identical across all three. There’s also a 3-day-per-week version (Mon/Wed/Fri) built into the program. Progression is simple: add weight each week to the main lifts (squat, bench, deadlift) and run it until you stall.

The design keeps two heavy days constant every week (heavy lower on Monday, heavy upper on Tuesday — 3×6 squat/deadlift and 3×6 bench with back work). The two variation days are where you pick your emphasis. Control uses pause variations to build technique and time under tension. Power swaps the lower variation day for explosive work to develop fast-twitch fiber. Hypertrophy bumps the variation days to higher volume (5×8) for more muscle size. You pick one emphasis and run it. When you stall on a lift, drop 15 lbs and continue. After three resets, slow your progression to every two weeks.

This program is best for novice-to-early-intermediate lifters who know how to perform the main lifts safely and want a structured linear program with more variety than StrongLifts 5×5. If you’ve never touched a barbell, spend a few months learning the movements first. If you’ve already exhausted linear progression and stall fast, the Candito 6 Week Program is the natural next step.

[Read more…]

Jonnie Candito 6 Week Powerlifting Program Spreadsheet

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Jonnie Candito’s 6 week program is a powerlifting peaking program. It consists of a few short training blocks dedicated to muscular conditioning, hypertrophy, strength, linear weight increases, acclimation to heavy weights, intensity, and testing. It is held in especially high regard for improving the one rep max of the squat, though it programs all three lifts.

Note: Novice lifters will progress more quickly using the Candito Linear Progression Program. For a deadlift specific program, see newly the released Candito Deadlift Program.

[Read more…]