GAIN MUSCLE

Jonnie Candito’s Six Week Powerlifting Program [With Spreadsheets]

by Nader Qudimat
Updated November 2, 2021
OVERVIEW
Goal
Powerlifting
Experience Level
Made for intermediate trainee's.
Periodization
Follows a block periodization.
Duration
6 weeks
Positives
Short 6 week program with training blocks
Improves squats
Well rounded power lifting program
Negatives 
The vanilla program isn't the best for bench press

Bottom Line

The Candito program is a 6 week powerlifting peak program. 

It's designed by Jonnie Candito and it contains several short training blocks made to improve muscular conditioning, hypertrophy, strength and more. 

Trainees commonly report improving their one rep max for squat in this program although it has all 3 main lifts. 

Make sure you make a copy of the spreadsheet. For how to save spreadsheet instructions, click here. 

Click Here For Spreedsheet 

The 6 week Candito program is a popular peaking program for powerlifting.

People who run this program are able to see continuous gains from this program. 

The most common improvements come with the deadlifts and squats. 

There is a variation that helps maximize the bench press as this program doesn't do it for most people, you can find that here: Candito 6 Week + Advanced Bench. 

Candito Program Overview

Candito's program is a 6 week powerlifting peaking program made out of a few short blocks.

It's designed to increase conditioning, muscle size and strength. 

While it focuses on all 3 compound lifts, it's often reported to help increase the 1 rep max for squats.

Many recommend this 6 week program to improve squats.

It's also great for deadlifts, but it's specialty seems to be with squats. 

Even advanced users will experience great gains from this program. 

If you're looking for a bench specific program to use along the Candito 6 Week Program then I recommend this combination, Candito 6 Week + Advanced Bench. 

Candito 6 Week Version 

You can find the program here:

If you want the Candito and advanced bench program then click below:

You can donate to Jonnie here. 

You can find the explainer video on the bench press program below:

Optional Exercises Notes

Johnnie has a summary of the program compiled into a PDF for instructions and info.

Here's some of the notes on optional exercises:

  • They do not need to be performed as they are optional.
  • Should only be performed if you have the energy after the main exercises. 
  • Light weights should be used in the 8-12 rep range.
  • They can be done on a regular basis and don't need to be progressed.
  • They should be isolation accessory exercises (one muscle at a time like bicep curls or lateral raises). 
  • They should be catered to your needs and should improve on your personal weaknesses.

Johnnie provides examples of optional upper body exercises, you can find some of them here: 

  • Lateral dumbbell raise
  • Preacher curl 
  • Skull crushers
  • Hammer curl
  • One armed tricep extension
  • Incline chest flies

Lower body exercise examples by Jonnie:

  • Calf raises on leg presses
  • Leg curls
  • Leg extensions
  • Single leg press
  • Single leg curl
  • Isolation glute exercises like barbell hip thrust

And lastly, Jonnie lists some explosive lower body exercises:

  • Box jumps
  • Med ball throws
  • Explosive single leg press
  • Power cleans
  • Single leg box jumps
  • Jump squats, deep squat jumps

These explosive exercises should be done in 4 reps for each set so each rep should be as explosive as possible.

Warm Up

For any program, it's a good idea to take 5-10 minutes to walk until you feel warm. 

After doing that, perform a few light sets of the muscles you're planning to workout. 

You should do at least 3-4 warm up sets before your actual workout, and then follow the program's workouts. 

You can do 1-2 warm up sets before a specific exercise. 

Candito FAQ's

What Is Candito?

Candito is a 6 week peaking program for powerlifting. 

It's made by Jonnie Candito, and is made out of many short training blocks to help with muscular conditioning, strength, muscle and weight increases. 

It's especially a good program for increasing squat 1 reps, although it focuses on all compound lifts. 

Who Is Candito For?

It's made for people who want to increase their 1 rep max for their main lifts. 

Even if you're into bodybuilding, you'll find it useful for increasing strength and weights. 

Signs of Burnout?

You can prevent overtraining by listening to your body and giving it the rest it needs. 

Here are some overtraining signs to look out for:

  • Pain at joints like knees, elbows, shoulders, etc.
  • Soreness at distal portion of muscle.
  • Like feeling sore near joints.
  • Lack of proper sleep
  • Suddenly feeling sick or a cold coming on- immune system is compromised.
  • Loss of libido
  • Depression

If you ignore these signs and keep exercising, you will eventually hit a plateau and will increase chance of injury.

If you're already experiencing these symptoms, take it slow and don't pushing yourself for at least a week or two.

Candito 6 Week Program

The Candito 6 week program is the go to if you want a powerlifting peaking routine. 

This will especially help with 1 rep squats, although there is a bench press focused program that you can combine this with as you'll find above.  

by Nader Qudimat

Forged by the iron and cold steel, Nader takes his knowledge and hulks it up into this site.

Having to be stuck as a 110lb skinny guy in the early days, he has had no choice but to keep improving himself until he cannot.

Click here to check out his 12 year transformation: Natural 12 Year Transformation

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