Strength · Powerlifting
Candito 6 Week Strength
Jonnie Candito's intermediate powerlifting peaking block. Six weeks build from muscular conditioning to hypertrophy, intensification, acclimation, peaking, and a final max-test week. All percentages are pre-set from your one-rep max — set it once at the start, and it stays fixed for the whole block.
Intermediate
5 days/week
6-week plan
~25–35 min/session
Free to use · rest timers & PR tracking built in
Overview
What is Candito 6 Week Strength?
Candito 6 Week Strength is Jonnie Candito's free intermediate powerlifting block — released as a spreadsheet on his site years ago and still one of the most downloaded peaking programs anywhere. Unlike a weekly-repeating routine, it is a one-way trip: six distinct weeks that transform volume into a max attempt. Week 1 is muscular conditioning — squats at 4×6 and 80%, deadlifts behind them, with a lighter 4×8 day at 70%. Week 2 shifts to hypertrophy: one all-out squat set of 8+ (then 7+) at 80% per session, backed by Romanian deadlifts. Week 3 intensifies to sets of 4–6 at 85–87.5%. Week 4 is heavy acclimation: triples from 87.5% up to 92.5%, capped by a near-max single at 95%. Week 5 peaks with one all-out single at 97.5%, and week 6 you max: an open single attempt on squat, bench and deadlift across three short sessions, with nothing prescribed — you work up to whatever the block has given you.
Upper-body days ride alongside on their own wave — benching three times a week early in the candito program, tapering in volume as intensity climbs — with rows, dumbbell pressing and pull-ups as the supporting cast.
Who it's for
Is Candito 6 Week Strength right for you?
This block is for intermediate lifters who want to convert a training cycle into visible PRs, and it slots naturally into the last six weeks before a powerlifting meet or a planned gym max-out. You should already handle 85%+ bars with stable technique. It is the wrong choice for beginners still progressing session to session, and the wrong choice as a permanent routine — it is a peak, not a lifestyle.
Progression
How progression works
There are no per-session weight decisions. Every set in the first five weeks is a fixed percentage of the training max you enter once at the start, and the program's progression is the rising intensity of the blocks themselves. Week 6 is the deliberate exception: the test days carry no percentage at all, because a max attempt pinned to the number you entered six weeks ago could never beat it. The scattered AMRAP sets — the 80% rep-outs in week 2, the 95% single in week 4, the 97.5% single in week 5 — are checkpoints that tell you whether the week 6 attempts are realistic. Set your maxes when you start it in Durata and every session for six weeks is already loaded; log the AMRAPs and the app's e1RM trend shows whether your planned max is conservative or brave.
Durata loads every session for you from the training max you set at the start. It does not move that max mid-cycle — the plan's own rising percentages are the progression, and the AMRAP sets are checkpoints you read, not inputs the app acts on.
The program
Candito 6 Week Strength — every set, every session
Percentages are of your training max (TM). AMRAP = as many reps as possible on the final set.
Week 15 sessions
W1 — Squat/DL Heavy
Monday~15–25 min
W1 — Upper
Tuesday~35–50 min
W1 — Upper
Thursday~35–50 min
W1 — Squat/DL Light
Friday~20–25 min
W1 — Upper
Saturday~35–50 min
Week 25 sessions
W2 — Squat/SLDL
Monday~15–25 min
W2 — Upper
Tuesday~30–40 min
W2 — Squat/SLDL
Thursday~15–25 min
W2 — Upper
Friday~30–40 min
W2 — Upper
Sunday~30–40 min
Week 34 sessions
W3 — Squat/DL Heavy
Monday~15–25 min
W3 — Upper
Wednesday~30–40 min
W3 — Squat/SLDL
Friday~15–25 min
W3 — Upper
Saturday~30–40 min
Week 44 sessions
W4 — Squat/SLDL
Monday~15–25 min
W4 — Upper
Tuesday~35–45 min
W4 — Heavy Squat/DL
Thursday~15–25 min
W4 — Upper
Friday~35–45 min
Week 53 sessions
W5 — Squat / Light DL
Monday~15–25 min
W5 — Bench / Upper
Wednesday~25–35 min
W5 — Deadlift
Friday~15–25 min
Week 63 sessions
W6 — Max Squat — 1RM Test
Monday~15–25 min
W6 — Max Bench — 1RM Test
Wednesday~15–25 min
W6 — Max Deadlift — 1RM Test
Friday~15–25 min
FAQ
Candito 6 Week Strength — common questions
What max should I base the percentages on?
A genuinely recent 1RM — tested or estimated within the last couple of months — and if in doubt, round down. The week 4 single at 95% and week 5 single at 97.5% expose an inflated max quickly, and there is no room in the plan to walk it back mid-block.
Can I run Candito's 6 week program back to back?
Yes, and many do: retest in week 6, take a few easy days, then restart with the new maxes plugged in. If the second run feels ground down from the start, spend a few weeks on a volume-oriented program before cycling in again.
What if I miss the heavy single in week 4 or 5?
Treat it as data, not disaster. A miss at 95% or 97.5% means your entered max is too high — plan week 6 attempts around what the AMRAP sets earlier in the block earned you, roughly your old max or a small PR, rather than forcing the original target.
How do the six weeks line up with a meet?
Almost one to one. Start the block six weeks out and week 6's max-testing days become your meet week — most lifters do openers early in the week or take the attempts on the platform itself instead of in the gym.
How many days a week does it take?
Up to five in the early weeks — two lower days plus three upper days — thinning to three sessions by weeks 5 and 6 as the weights approach maximum. Lower days are short and violent; upper days are conventional 45–60 minute sessions.
Source: Jonnie Candito — canditostrengthcoach.com
Durata is not affiliated with or endorsed by the program's author. The program structure (sets, reps, exercise selection) is presented as published methodology.
Ready to lift?
Run Candito 6 Week Strength in Durata
Training-max calculation, AMRAP tracking, plate calculator, rest timers and PR tracking — the whole program, ready to log.
