Stationary biking useless?

I have used the stationary bike and have worked up a really good sweat and burned a decent amount of calories.

I think it all depends on how intense you do it as it does with any other piece of cardio equipment you use. If you just sit there, read a book and half heartedly move your feet then it's a useless waste of time. But if you crank up the resistance, go all out, and if you're on a regular stationary bike, stand up to pedal then you're going to get a good workout and burn.

It's weird! The stationary bike at my gym says I'm not burning that many calories ( when compared to the eliptical) but I always sweat way more on the bike than I do the eliptical... *shrug* I do it because i enjoy it, and its easy on the knees

There's nothing wrong with the stationary bike. For best results do high intensity intervals

So recently iv'e been told that stationary biking does not give you a good enough calorie burn to be considered a 'workout'.

Nonsense. I didn't read the blog, but if it says that it's nonsense. A stationary bike works your legs, heart and lungs. Along with the right diet, it may build or maintain leg and ab muscles. Any movement increases calorie burn over being stationary. How many you burn with a stationary bike would depend on your fitness level, the resistance setting on the bike, how hard you push yourself and how long you do it. But it is possible to plenty of calories..

Stationary biking is my main cardio exercise, and has been as I have some serious medical conditions. It's worked great for me and I'll continue to do it as it's one of my favorite things to do, turn up the music loud and go all out

tell that to the 20 pounds i left somewhere...

Upon reading the blog, I think you misunderstood him IMHO. It's not that the stationary bike is useless for everyone, but it is useless for those who don't push themselves on it....as is any exercise (with or without equipment). That said, I do hate when people generalize like this because it can be confusing for those who don't understand the difference. All activity is good!

If you're sitting on your bike pedaling slowly at the lowest resistance so you can read your book or magazine then yes, it is pretty close to being a waste of time if you're looking to get actual benefits from this activity. While you're doing a bit more than you would be sitting on the couch, it's not much more. As with any exercise, you have to keep pushing yourself. Set the resistance as high as you can stand it, look up spinning routines and try them out, even use your arm more by doing things like shoulder presses , bicep curls, etc while your'e sitting there. There is always room for improvement.

Perceived Exertion
•Level 1: I'm watching TV and eating bon bons
•Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long
•Level 3: I'm still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder
•Level 4: I'm sweating a little, but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly
•Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more and can still talk easily
•Level 6: I can still talk, but am slightly breathless
•Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to. I'm sweating like a pig
•Level 8: I can grunt in response to your questions and can only keep this pace for a short time period
•Level 9: I am probably going to die
•Level 10: I am dead

It's good to be somewhere between level 4 and 6 for moderate workouts and higher is obviously more intense. Talking is usually a good clue - if you can't talk, you're doing a pretty intense workout.

And he's right, walking slowly on the treadmil would at least have slightly more health benefits than pedaling slowly with no resistance on the bike because at least walking includes impact which helps bone structure.