Why the UFL Chose STEPR to Train Its Professional Athletes

Professional football doesn't pause for anyone. The athletes competing in the United Football League train year round, from off season to between games and right up to game day. The equipment they put their hands on has to match that intensity without compromise. That's exactly why the UFL chose STEPR and why we are proud to announce that STEPR is the Official Cardio Equipment of the United Football League.

This isn't a branding exercise. It's a performance decision made by the people responsible for keeping professional athletes physically ready week after week. The VPR™ range is now a fixture in UFL training environments across the country, with the STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™ in use across five franchises: the Dallas Renegades, Houston Gamblers, D.C. Defenders, St. Louis Battlehawks and Louisville Kings.

What the UFL actually is:

The United Football League is North America's premier professional spring football competition, now in its third season and broadcast nationally on FOX Sports. Eight teams. A 10 week regular season. Athletes drawn from across the college and professional ranks, competing at the highest level available outside the NFL.

The league centralises all training operations at its performance hub in Arlington, Texas, where every squad prepares under a unified conditioning philosophy built around readiness, resilience, and peak output. This is professional sport operating at a serious level. Serious operations demand serious equipment.

The man driving the programme:

Sean Hayes, UFL Director of Player Performance, built a conditioning system that adapts to each athlete's resources, position demands, and physical profile. His approach pulls from high performance environments where athletes must perform on demand, no ramp up periods, no easing in. The expectation is readiness, and Hayes built his programme around it.

One of the core requirements of that programme is cardiovascular training that scales with the athlete and never becomes easy. A standard air bike can plateau. A conditioned professional athlete can outpace conventional resistance at maximal effort, which turns expensive equipment into an expensive spin bike. Hayes needed a machine that stayed hard no matter how fit the athlete became. The STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™ solved that problem.

What does VPR™ actually do?

VPR™ stands for Variable Pitch Resistance and it changes everything about how an air bike works. Every VPR™-equipped STEPR machine contains a Variable Pitch Rotor: a turbine-style system that physically adjusts the blade pitch angle in real time, either increasing or decreasing resistance based on effort applied. You're not fighting a fan spinning faster. You're fighting a rotor that is actively getting harder to turn.

The result is over 100 seamless virtual gears of resistance, dialled through a precision control on the machine itself. An athlete pushing at 85% of their maximum capacity gets a genuinely different resistance profile than an athlete working at 60%. There is no ceiling. There is no coasting.

For professional football players, where a 260 pound lineman and a 185 pound cornerback might use the same machine back to back,  this matters enormously. Both athletes can work at true maximum intensity. The machine adapts to each of them individually, not to an average.

This is why STEPR isn't just an air bike. It's a calibrated performance tool. The entire VPR™ range: Bionic Bike, Rower XL, Ski XL, Cycle XL, and Treadsled XL is built on this same patented core technology, making it the most versatile and scalable cardio system available at any price point.

Tested by competition, trusted by professionals

The VPR™ range doesn't only have the UFL behind it. The STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™ is also the Official Air Bike of the Spartan DEKA Series, one of the most demanding functional fitness competitions on the planet. That's two elite performance organisations in completely different athletic disciplines selecting the same machine for the same reason: it delivers real resistance at real intensity, and it holds up.

When professional athletes and elite competition directors both arrive at the same conclusion independently, you're looking at something that performs. Not something that markets well, something that performs.

Five teams, one standard

We visited five franchises across the 2026 season to document how athletes are actually using the VPR™ range in training. The footage collected across the Dallas Renegades, Houston Gamblers, D.C. Defenders, St. Louis Battlehawks, and Louisville Kings tells the same story regardless of team: these athletes are working hard on this equipment, and the equipment is keeping up with them.

The partnership is live, active, and visible. Not a logo on a wall. Machines on the floor with professionals on them.

What this means if you train at home

Professional sport selects equipment on performance grounds. There are no brand loyalties in a strength and conditioning programme, only results. When the UFL's performance staff chose a cardio platform, they were solving a specific, demanding problem with a specific, proven solution.

The STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™ is available to buy directly through STEPR with no subscription required. The same VPR™ technology conditioning UFL athletes for professional football is the same technology available for your home gym, garage, or commercial facility. It doesn't downgrade for the consumer market. The machine you buy is the machine the professionals use.

Put in the work it demands, and it will match you every single time.

FAQ'S: 

What is the United Football League?

The United Football League is a professional American football league in its third season, featuring eight teams competing across a 10-week regular season broadcast on FOX Sports. All teams centralise their training in Arlington, Texas, under the performance direction of Sean Hayes, the league's Director of Player Performance. The UFL is the premier professional spring football competition in North America.

Which STEPR products are used by UFL athletes?

UFL athletes train on the STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™. The Bionic Bike features STEPR's patented VPR™ (Variable Pitch Resistance) technology and dual-action push/pull handles for full-body training. The broader VPR™ range also includes the Rower XL, Ski XL, Cycle XL, and Treadsled XL, all built on the same core Variable Pitch Resistance technology.

What makes VPR™ different from a standard air bike?

Standard air bikes generate resistance through fan spin which increases resistance with speed, but only up to a point a trained athlete can outpace. STEPR's VPR™ technology uses a Variable Pitch Rotor that physically changes blade pitch angle in real time, creating over 100 seamless virtual gears of resistance that scale with actual effort regardless of how fit the athlete becomes. There is no ceiling on the challenge it can deliver.

Why did the UFL choose STEPR?

Professional performance environments choose equipment based on output, reliability, and the ability to challenge athletes at every fitness level. The VPR™ system delivers resistance that adapts to athletes of very different physical profiles from linemen to skill position players without plateauing. The UFL's performance team selected STEPR because it matches the intensity demands of professional conditioning without compromise.

Is the STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™ available for home use?

Yes. The Bionic Bike VPR™ is built for both home and commercial use. The same VPR™ technology used in UFL training environments is available to buy directly through STEPR with no subscription required. Commercial grade construction, patented resistance technology, and no ongoing fees.

Which UFL teams are using STEPR equipment?

STEPR has been integrated into the training environments of five UFL franchises: the Dallas Renegades, Houston Gamblers, D.C. Defenders, St. Louis Battlehawks, and Louisville Kings, covering both in-season training and conditioning work across the 2026 season.

Is STEPR used in other elite sports competitions?

Yes. The STEPR Bionic Bike VPR™ is also the Official Air Bike of the Spartan DEKA Series, one of the most demanding functional fitness competition formats globally. Both the UFL and Spartan DEKA independently selected the VPR™ range for elite performance use.

The UFL's performance team made their call. Five franchises are training on VPR™ technology right now. If professional athletes conditioning for competitive football are putting the STEPR Bionic Bike through its paces every week, the question is straightforward: what are you waiting for?

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