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.
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Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench Press Hybrid Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet originally assembled by /u/thisisnotjonah, then improved by Lift Vault reader Elliot. Support Jonnie Candito on YouTube.
Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench Hybrid Program Overview
- 6 weeks in length
- 4 to 5 training sessions per week
- Bench press trained 5x per week (weeks 1 to 3) down to 2x per week (week 4)
Improvements to This Spreadsheet
As described by Elliot.
Fixes
- It didn’t include the upper body accessories: back (horizontal + vertical) and shoulder accessories, that the original 6 week has in the program.
- Not having access to low-pin and high-pin bench can be quite limiting – so added in some alternatives.
- Week 4 had programmed bench day 1: 3 sets of 10, and bench day 2: 3 sets of 5-10 @80-82% (which could obviously kill a man). The reps and sets were the wrong way round.
New Features
- An RPE column, as it was expected throughout you would gauge your own weight on several exercises – this leaves the weight column free so you can include your working weight to keep track of it
- Throughout the routine the bench accessories, deadlift variations and upper body accessories are automatically updated based on the drop-down menus on the ‘Inputs’ page. The list of options for these accessories can be found in a hidden group of rows on row 29 – these can be changed if desired, I’ve included all the ones recommended by Candito and added a few myself.
- Lists for accessory exercises that you can add your own desired exercises to – which will then show up in the routine drop-down menus for additional accessories throughout the routine.
- Days and dates for each training session based on a start-date inputted in the ‘Inputs’ page – this was a feature in the 6-week program that I found useful.
- A deload week – based on what Jonnie recommended to use as a deload week in his 6-week program – I just made a sheet for it.
- A taper week, for if you wanted to test your 1rms. Admittedly, this is not Candytoe’s work, but rather Bruce Krawfish’s, it is the exact taper week from Calgary Barbell’s 16-week program.
- An updated way to calculate your projected maxes, and an input calculator to do it for you. I have to say this is just something I thought up and thought it was smart. It is essentially just based off the RPE % scale @10, so if you got 2 reps in week 5, then you are using a weight that is 96% of your true 1RM weight – therefore, you can calculate your estimated 1RM weight from this. It’s not a perfect science, but it makes sense – and has more scientific backing to it than the ol’ multiply by 1.03 for 2 reps, 1.06 for 3 reps, etc. (although it is almost the same thing).
Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench FAQs
What is the Candito 6 Week Advanced Bench program?
It’s a hybrid program that takes the Candito 6 Week Strength Program as a base and replaces all the bench press work with Candito’s Advanced Bench Press program. The squat and deadlift follow the standard 6-week structure. The bench press gets a dedicated specialization block with high frequency in the first three weeks, then tapers down into a peak and max-out.
Do I need to know my 1RM?
Yes. The program is built around percentages of your 1RM for all three main lifts. You’ll enter your maxes on the Inputs tab and the sheet auto-calculates your working weights from there. If you don’t have a recent tested max, run a max-out session before you start or use an estimated max from a recent heavy set.
What is RPE and how do I use it?
RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion, rated on a scale of 1 to 10. An RPE of 10 means you gave everything you had with no reps left in the tank. RPE 8 means you could have done about 2 more reps. The sheet includes an RPE column throughout so you can gauge your effort and track how the prescribed weights are actually sitting for you. If a set feels much lighter than the target RPE, you can nudge the weight up within reason.
How is this different from the Candito 6 Week Strength Program?
The main difference is bench frequency. In the standard 6 Week program, bench press follows a moderate frequency schedule alongside squat and deadlift. In this hybrid, the bench work is replaced with Candito’s dedicated bench specialization, which runs bench up to 5 times per week in weeks 1 to 3. The squat and deadlift programming is unchanged from the base program.
Can a beginner run this program?
No. This is an advanced program. The bench frequency in the first three weeks (5 sessions per week) is a lot of volume if you haven’t built up to it. Beginners and early intermediates will recover faster and make more progress on a simpler program. If you’re newer to structured training, the Candito 6 Week Strength Program is a better place to start.
Is there a deload or taper week?
Yes to both. The sheet includes a deload week based on what Candito recommends after his 6-week program. There’s also a separate taper week if you want to test your 1RMs after the program – that week is taken directly from Calgary Barbell’s 16-week program and is labeled as such in the sheet.
