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.
Jonnie Candito’s 6 Week Strength Program is fantastic to run repeatedly or to peak for powerlifting meets.
Based on personal experience, I highly recommend the Candito 6 Week Strength Program for squats. I’m able to run this repeatedly and continue to see gains of 5-10 lbs per every 5 weeks. It’s a solid choice for deadlifts as well, but I’ve had minimal success running this program for bench press. I’d recommend a bench specific program to help complement the Candito 6 Week Program. Alternatively, someone did combine this program with the Candito Advanced Bench Press Program: Candito 6 Week + Advanced Bench.
Candito 6 Week Program Spreadsheet
Jonnie provided a written summary of the program, which can be viewed in this PDF.
Note on Optional Exercises
From Jonnie’s PDF summary of the program, here are some notes on optional exercises.
- They are optional, and do not need to be completed.
- They should be done when you have the energy after the main work.
- They should be low impact in order to not negatively impact recovery from the main work.
- Use light weights in the 8 to 12 rep range.
- They can be done on a workout to workout basis. They can change whenever you’d like and do not necessarily need to progress in any particular way.
- They should probably be isolation accessory exercises (i.e. they work a single muscle/muscle group at a time, like a tricep extension or bicep curl).
- They are personal to you and should be tailored to your individual weaknesses.
Here are some examples of optional upper body exercises provided by Jonnie:
- Lateral dumbbell raise
- Incline chest fly
- One armed tricep extension
- Bicep cable/machine movements
- Preacher curl
- Skull crushers
- Hammer curl (if not already a main accessory)
Here are some examples of optional lower body exercises provided by Jonnie:
- Calf raises on leg press
- Leg curls
- Leg extensions
- Isolation glute exercises (e.g. barbell hip thrust)
- Single leg press
- Single leg curl
And here are some optional explosive lower body exercises:
- Box jumps
- Single leg box jumps
- Med ball throws
- Explosive single leg press
- Jump squats, deep squat jumps
- Power cleans
Explosive lower body exercises should be done for 4 reps each set so that each rep is truly explosive.