Stationary Bike Instead of Walking for Cardio?

A client asked me the other day how I feel about using the spin bike instead of accumulating 60 minutes of walking per day.

He was wondering if it's okay to jump on a spin bike for 20 minutes after our 45-60 minute sessions. 

My answer:

Of course!

I'm not dogmatic by nature and that carries over into general cardio.

I suggest walking as the primary form of cardio just because it's accessible for most people. But, if you've got 60-90 minutes allocated for working out, and you want to knock out all of your "formal" exercise in that time frame, by all means ride the stationary bike. I don't really care what you all do for light, general cardio.

Or, if you simply enjoy riding the bike (stationary or otherwise) than riding the bike will probably be what motivates you to do cardio! So ride the dang bike!

I'll add that, riding a spin bike is usually easier than walking for 60 minutes, so I would still recommend accumulating around 60 minutes throughout the day on the bike. But if that's not feasible due to family and work obligations, aim to ride the bike 20-30 minutes and track your steps, aiming for 7,000 steps per day.

I think spin bikes are fantastic. Doing cardio after lifting is probably – dare I say – optimal.