In this video, the rider Won Jae-ri talks about the secrets behind his improvement on the bike. He credits his gains in power and ability to weight training, meticulous diet management, and excellent training mates. In particular, he goes into detail about the importance of weight training that ordinary riders easily overlook, how to train the iliopsoas, diet management tips, and how the synergy with training mates can make you stronger. You even get a glimpse of his new plans for getting stronger next season — so if you are interested in improving on the bike, this one is worth watching!

1. The Importance of Weight Training 💪

Won Jae-ri named weight training as one of the reasons he can climb alongside others despite weighing considerably more than they do. He says his mileage on the bike was actually lower than the previous year, but he concentrated especially on lower-body weights to fill in his weak points.

"In my case, the first thing I did was add weights. Ah, my mileage is actually down compared to last year, but to fill in what I was lacking I focused more on lower-body weights..."

There are various opinions about weight training, but he believes that for anyone able to train more than 15 hours a week, adding weights is unequivocally beneficial. The reason is that weights give you muscle that is hard to gain from cycling alone. Since even WorldTour riders do supplementary work consistently, he stresses that there is no reason for amateur riders not to lift.

1.1. Effective Lower-Body Work: Iliopsoas Exercises

When lifting, Won Jae-ri focuses on developing explosive power in the moment rather than simply moving heavy weight. Alongside general lower-body movements like squats and lunges, he recommended exercises specific to pedaling:

• Bulgarian split squat
• Single-leg squat
• Single-leg leg press
• Single-leg leg extension
• Leg curl

The exercise he considers most important of all is work for the iliopsoas. The iliopsoas is the muscle that protrudes where the lower back, hamstrings, and quadriceps connect, and it is used heavily when pulling the pedal up. He explains that most riders use the hamstrings well — pushing the pedal down or kicking back — but struggle to engage the iliopsoas.

"I think that when you use the iliopsoas together with pushing from the glutes, the pedaling becomes organic and you can apply force in every direction — you can put out higher numbers."

To strengthen the iliopsoas, he says he hangs from a pull-up bar with a kettlebell hooked over his insteps, or holds onto a wall and lifts his leg as if throwing a knee strike. He stresses the importance of building explosive strength by going up fast and coming down slowly, repeatedly.

1.2. Weight Training Frequency

Won Jae-ri kept up consistent weight training from the start of the season and all the way through it. He lifted about once or twice a week, and when the following day was a rest day he would do an interval session, add the weights session on top, and then rest. 🏋️‍♂️

2. Meticulous Diet Management 🥦

Over several days of riding together, Won Jae-ri showed just how carefully he manages his diet. He says supplements matter, but getting nutrition from food matters most.

"Supplements are really important too — plenty of people take multivitamins and so on. But the same goes for protein: I think what we take in from food is the most important thing."

He made an effort to eat plenty of foods that aid recovery, naming broccoli, spinach, kale, blueberries, almonds, and cashews as representative examples. He especially favors foods that are good for the blood vessels, and tries to avoid greasy food. 🥗

2.1. Managing Macronutrient Ratios and Post-Workout Protein

Won Jae-ri did not go out of his way to calculate his carbohydrate, protein, and fat ratios, but he used a food diary app called In&Out to check the nutrient breakdown of what he ate and manage his diet consciously.

After finishing a workout he considers it important to always get protein in within 30 minutes, even if it comes from a convenience store. Before a race or during competition, however, protein can leave him short of breath, so he says he tried to cut back on it and eat mainly carbohydrates.

2.2. Healthy Fats and a Breakfast Tip

For fat intake, he says he ate a lot of extra virgin olive oil. He shared a method of having two spoonfuls of Greek yogurt with extra virgin olive oil in place of breakfast, adding that he has since stopped because dairy does not agree with him. 🥛

Interestingly, he shared the tip that eating carbohydrates cold — like frozen bread or rice that has been kept in the refrigerator — reduces insulin and blood sugar spikes. Taking this kind of resistant starch together with Greek yogurt and extra virgin olive oil, he says, helps even more with blood sugar management.

3. The Importance of Training Mates and Route Selection 🚴‍♂️

Won Jae-ri stresses that training mates and route selection matter as much as the training itself. He lives in Guri, so he boasted that good places to ride — like Gwangnaru Bicycle Park and the Hwarangdae area — are close by. He particularly recommended the Eastern Seven Passes and Bunwon-ri as ideal training courses.

"And one of the things I consider most important is the members you train with — that really matters."

Ever since he took up cycling, he has always wanted to ride with people better than himself. Starting with the Dosa beginner group, then intermediate, and then attending the GYCC Academy, he learned a great deal quickly; after joining the Bianchi team he improved further by riding with outstanding teammates.

This year in particular he raised his level by doing mostly flat-terrain training with Yun Jung-won and Lee Seo-jin, and climbing work with Baek Seung-yong and Kim Young-jun. Watching the riders he trained with finish near the top of the general classification, he says, made him appreciate the importance of training mates all over again.

"People on an MCT team say, 'Ah, my fitness has kind of reset, so let me build it back up and then go out on the team ride again.' But no — I think the opposite. Going out and getting shelled is what makes you fast, faster. Stronger."

Rather than sitting out a team ride because your fitness has reset, he advises that going out, getting dropped, feeling crushed, and improving quickly is more effective. He admitted that he trained while getting chewed out by Yun Jung-won every day, but that this is exactly what made him strong. Competing with training mates like these, he says, made him grow faster.

4. New Plans for the 2026 Season 🚀

Won Jae-ri revealed that he has bought a Kickr bike in order to get even stronger in 2026. You can see his effort to overcome the difficulty of winter indoor training and keep training consistently.

"Honestly, riding rollers in winter isn't easy, so I was always struggling and my fitness always reset. This year I bought a Kickr bike."

He says that because he puts so much time into cycling there are moments when he wants to set it down, but the joy of riding lies not simply in resting — it is in the thrill you get from hitting intervals and competing.

"Next year we'll ride enjoying it, while getting stronger. When I'm the one cracking during intervals, it's genuinely painful. But when the other guy cracks, that fun, that rush, that jolt comes. 'I'm strong. Stronger than this guy — he cracked.'"

He also expressed the ambition of racing abroad to gain a range of experience in countries with a more developed cycling culture. He noted his expectation that overseas he could meet riders stronger than himself even on a weekend.

Finally, he said that if many elite riders take part in the 2026 MCT races, he would like to line up alongside them. Watching elite riders' pedaling and core usage firsthand, he stressed, is a great help to amateur riders.

"When you watch the elites' pedaling and their core and so on, there's something to learn. Just racing and coming back — you really do get a little stronger from that."

Closing ✨

This interview with Won Jae-ri offers highly practical, useful advice to every rider who dreams of getting faster. It is a reminder of how much more there is than simply riding a lot: systematic weight training, careful diet management, and riding with training mates who will make you grow. The importance of iliopsoas work and the tip about using a diet management app, in particular, are good ideas you could try right away. Here's looking forward to an even stronger Won Jae-ri in the 2026 season — and hoping that we, too, can use his methods to become happier, stronger riders! 🚴‍♀️💨