Day 1
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat4 × 6 · 80% e1RM
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift2 × 6 · 80% e1RM
Candito 6 Week Strength Program
Jonnie Candito's classic intermediate-to-advanced peaking program: six phases across the big three, from muscle adaptation → hypertrophy → linear strength → heavy adaptation → high-intensity testing. The data has five prescribed weeks; week 6 is optional (skip it, deload, or test your max).
- Weeks
- 5
- Days / week
- 5
- Exercises / day
- 1–4
Run this program in TopSet
Copy it to your plans in the free app. TopSet works out each set’s target weight from your training max or 1RM.
Download on the App StoreWeek structure
Week 1Muscle adaptation phase
Day 2
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 10 · 50% e1RM1 × 10 · 67.5% e1RM1 × 8 · 75% e1RM1 × 6 · 77.5% e1RM
- Barbell Bent Over Row2 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press2 × 121 × 101 × 8
- Weighted Pull-Up2 × 121 × 101 × 8
Day 3
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 10 · 50% e1RM1 × 10 · 67.5% e1RM1 × 8 · 75% e1RM1 × 6 · 77.5% e1RM
- Barbell Bent Over Row2 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press2 × 121 × 101 × 8
- Weighted Pull-Up2 × 121 × 101 × 8
Day 4
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat4 × 8 · 70% e1RM
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift2 × 8 · 70% e1RM
Day 5
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 1+ · 80% e1RMMR: do as many reps as you can
- Barbell Bent Over Row2 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press2 × 121 × 101 × 8
- Weighted Pull-Up2 × 121 × 101 × 8
Week 2Adaptation/hypertrophy phase
Day 1
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat1 × 1+ · 80% e1RMMR10: up to 10 reps maximum. If you get fewer than 8, lower your 1RM by 2.5% for later sessions (still do the extra volume sets)5 × 3 · 80% e1RMExtra volume set: add 2.5kg to the MR10 weight
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift3 × 8Use a deadlift variation: stiff-leg, wide-pull, deficit, or paused deadlift, your choice, with a weight of your choice
Day 2
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 10 · 72.5% e1RM1 × 8 · 77.5% e1RM1 × 6-8 · 80% e1RMAdd 2.5kg to 80%.
- Barbell Bent Over Row1 × 102 × 8
- Barbell Overhead Press1 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Weighted Pull-Up1 × 101 × 81 × 6
Day 3
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat1 × 1+ · 80% e1RMMR10: add 2.5kg to 80%, up to 10 reps maximum8 × 3 · 80% e1RMBack-off set: MR10 weight minus 5kg. Rules: 10 reps on MR10 → 10 sets; 8-9 reps → 8 sets; 7 reps → 5 sets; fewer than 7 reps → skip the back-off and lower your 1RM by at least 2.5%. 8 sets entered here, adjust to actual.
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift3 × 8Use a deadlift variation: stiff-leg, wide-pull, deficit, or paused deadlift, your choice, with a weight of your choice
Day 4
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 10 · 72.5% e1RM1 × 8 · 77.5% e1RM1 × 6-8 · 80% e1RMAdd 2.5kg to 80%.
- Barbell Bent Over Row1 × 102 × 8
- Barbell Overhead Press1 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Weighted Pull-Up1 × 101 × 81 × 6
Day 5
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 1+ · 80% e1RMMR: with 80% minus 2.5kg, do as many reps as you can
- Barbell Bent Over Row1 × 102 × 8
- Barbell Overhead Press1 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Weighted Pull-Up1 × 101 × 81 × 6
Week 3Linear intensity phase
Day 1
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat3 × 4-6 · 85% e1RMAdd 2.5kg to 85%
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift2 × 3-6 · 87.5% e1RM
Day 2
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press3 × 4-6 · 85% e1RM
- Barbell Bent Over Row3 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press3 × 6
- Weighted Pull-Up3 × 6
Day 3
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat1 × 4-6 · 85% e1RM2.5kg more than the first lower-body session this week.
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift1 × 8Use a deadlift variation: stiff-leg, wide-pull, deficit, or paused deadlift, your choice, with a weight of your choice
Day 4
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press3 × 4-6 · 85% e1RM2.5kg more than the first upper-body session this week
- Barbell Bent Over Row3 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press3 × 6
- Weighted Pull-Up3 × 6
Week 4Heavy-load adaptation phase
Day 1
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat3 × 3 · 90% e1RMMinus 2.5kg.Add 2.5kg.
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift2 × 6Use a deadlift variation: stiff-leg, wide-pull, deficit, or paused deadlift, your choice, with a weight of your choice
Day 2
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 3 · 87.5% e1RMMinus 2.5kg.2 × 3 · 90% e1RMMinus 2.5kg.
- Barbell Bent Over Row2 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press2 × 121 × 101 × 8
- Weighted Pull-Up2 × 121 × 101 × 8
Day 3
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat1 × 3 · 90% e1RMAdd 2.5kg.1 × 1-2 · 95% e1RM
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift1 × 3 · 90% e1RMAdd 2.5kg.1 × 1-2 · 95% e1RM
Day 4
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 3 · 87.5% e1RM1 × 2-4 · 90% e1RM1 × 1-2 · 95% e1RM
- Barbell Bent Over Row2 × 101 × 81 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press2 × 121 × 101 × 8
- Weighted Pull-Up2 × 121 × 101 × 8
Week 5High-intensity peaking phase
Day 1
Lower body
- Barbell High Bar Squat1 × 1-4 · 97.5% e1RMDo 1-4 reps depending on how you feel today, and calculate a new max from it (2 reps×1.03/3 reps×1.06/4 reps×1.09), see doc for details
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift1 × 4 · 67.5% e1RM1 × 4 · 70% e1RM1 × 2 · 72.5% e1RM
Day 2
Upper body
- Barbell Bench Press1 × 1-4 · 97.5% e1RMDo 1-4 reps depending on how you feel today, and calculate a new max from it
- Barbell Bent Over Row1 × 82 × 6
- Barbell Overhead Press1 × 82 × 6
- Weighted Pull-Up1 × 82 × 6
Day 3
Deadlift
- Barbell Conventional Deadlift1 × 1-4 · 97.5% e1RMDo 1-4 reps depending on how you feel today, and calculate a new max from it
Program guide
Overview
The Candito 6 Week Strength Program is one of the most widely used free intermediate-to-advanced programs in powerlifting. It splits the 6 weeks into progressive training blocks: Week 1 muscle adaptation, Week 2 adaptation/hypertrophy (introducing the MR10 AMRAP set and high-density volume sets), Week 3 linear strength (4-6-rep big sets), Week 4 heavy adaptation (90%+ sets of three), and Week 5 high-intensity peaking (97.5% test sets of 1-4 reps). Week 6 is optional (see below).
Who it's for
- Intermediate and upper-intermediate lifters with at least 1 year of consistent barbell training whose linear progress has stalled.
- Squat and deadlift gains are generally the most reliable; the bench block is relatively weaker, so consider combining it with "Candito 6 Week Bench Press Specialization" (the original Hybrid approach).
Weekly structure
3-5 sessions per week (Weeks 1-2: 5 sessions, lower/upper/upper/lower/upper; Weeks 3-4: 4 sessions; Week 5: 3 sessions). The horizontal pull / shoulder press / vertical pull accessory slots in the upper-body sessions are entered with the default options (barbell row/press/weighted pull-up) and can be swapped in the plan editor for the original sheet's alternatives such as dumbbell row, seated dumbbell press, or lat pulldown; you can add 1-2 accessories of your choice (8-12 reps) to each session, which this library doesn't include as placeholders. The deadlift variation means your choice of stiff-leg, wide-stance, deficit, or paused deadlift.
Week 6 (no fixed prescription in the source sheet; three options)
- Skip Week 6: start the next round directly with the new max projected from the Week 5 sets of 1-4 reps;
- Use the projected new max, but take a deload week first (repeat Week 1, dropping the last upper-body session);
- Use a new 1RM measured in Week 6, then deload or start a new cycle. Projection rule: for the Week 5 97.5% set, 2 reps ×1.03, 3 reps ×1.06, 4 reps ×1.09.
Progression rules
One 6-week round is one cycle, with no weight increases within the cycle (the sheet already includes ±2.5 kg micro-adjustments; see the set notes). At the end of the cycle, update your 1RM using the rules above and rerun. If you fail any required reps, lower your 1RM by 2.5% and continue.
Notes
- MR = AMRAP set; MR10 = an AMRAP set of up to 10 reps, with the deciding rule in the set notes.
- The extra volume/back-off sets in Week 2 use 60 seconds of rest between sets (already entered); the number of back-off sets varies with MR10 performance (10/8/5 sets), and this library enters the middle option of 8 sets, with the rule in the set notes.
- The original sheet is in lb (±5 lb micro-adjustments); this library converts everything to ±2.5 kg.
Program by Jonnie Candito. TopSet is not affiliated with or endorsed by the program’s creator. Program names and trademarks belong to their owners. See the guide for original sources.