Cyclists at Giant Liverpool plug into sport science

Cyclists in Liverpool are learning to ‘fuel’ for their rides thanks to experts in sport science at Liverpool John Moores University.

Customers at Liverpool’s Giant bike store say they are already feeling stronger in the saddle after advice from sports nutritionist Dr Dan Owens.

Dan has been handing out advice to the public after appearing at Giant on October 16 as part of a public lecture series run by the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences – one of the leading sport science centres in Europe.

“Local riders have been adopting Dan’s fuelling strategies on their Saturday rides. What to eat and drink for evening dinner, for pre ride breakfast, and what to take during a ride and post ride have been key topics of conversation,” says Dr Amy Whitehead, co-organiser of the public engagement events.

“Riders have been raving about feeling stronger on their rides as a result of Dan's talk.”

Amy, herself will be talking at Giant, in Parliament Street, on November 13 with further public talks on a cycling theme running until March.

Amy will be sharing her findings on how people understand and reflect on sporting performance, providing practical recommendations on managing thought processes during both training and racing.

She said: “Whether people are doing their first ever 5k or training for a world championship, my aim is to give them a basis for self-reflection.

Other talks will cover sleep, myths of nutrition, fuelling the female cyclist, and myths around pregnancy and motherhood in relation to training and competing.

PhD student Robyn Jones, also presented at Giant, sharing his evidence of the effects of varying carbohydrate intake on endurance cycling performance.

Amy added: “The idea is to translate sport science research from LJMU into practical advice that the general population can benefit from. The focus is on cycling, but our research also applies to other sports too.”

For more information about the upcoming series of public talks.

Image: Giant bike store in Parliament Street, Baltic.