Kettlebell Instructor Roger Tardif: Bio

Roger was born and raised in Sherbrooke, Québec. During his teens he practiced and competed in Olympic Weightlifting which started his interest in weight training as a component of an overall fitness lifestyle. His initial background in Olympic Weightlifting is one of the reasons kettlebells caught his eye a couple of years ago.

Roger joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 1975; his RCMP career has taken him all over Canada having worked in Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, he recently transferred to London, Ontario where he plans to retire in a few years. He has worked in various duties and functions throughout his career, from general duty uniform work to Emergency Response Teams (RCMP SWAT). Roger spent many years at the RCMP Training Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan where he worked as a Physical Training Instructor for a number of years, followed by other functions, and was later promoted as the Sergeant Major at the Academy. Over 10,000 new RCMP members graduated from the intense 6 months basic training program during his posting at the Academy.

Over the years Roger participated in Police & Fire Games competitions which are open to Law Enforcement and Firefighters, he competed in a unique event called the TCA (Toughest Competitor Alive). The TCA is a decathlon like event which consists of eight (8) individual events that each competitor must participate in during the day. The events are in order of sequence: 3 mile run, 100M Sprint, Shot-put, 100M Swim, 20 foot Rope Climb, Bench Press, Pull Ups and finally an Obstacle Course. Each event has its individual point scale and the TCA is divided in different age/weight brackets which makes it fair for all competitors. He wishes that he could have discovered kettlebells many years ago, as KB training would have been an excellent “secret weapon” to train for the TCA!

In the past year Roger became hooked on kettlebells which eventually became his main mode of training and led to his completing his Agatsu Kettlebell Certification (AKC) in October 2006. The AKC course given by Shawn Mozen was an incredible learning experience which opened his eyes to the endless learning curve that one can follow using kettlebells in a lifetime training regime.

Having crossed the golden age of 50 years he can personally attest that one is never too old to learn new tricks and that KB training definitely has its place for any age or gender. Being that 54-55 years of age will still be too young for him to retire, one of his retirement hobby plans is to be a personal trainer instructing with kettlebells. Currently, kettlebell training is relatively unknown in London and surrounding areas, Roger hopes to get some interest started in the next few years as the potential market is definitely here. For now, he’s concentrating on improving his KB technique on many of the KB basic exercises along with his conditioning, endurance and strength.

Roger has completed a Certificate in Health & Fitness Studies from Simon Fraser University and has attended many fitness workshops/courses. He will be completing his Personal Trainer certification in the near future. You can contact Roger by E-mail at

london_kettlebells @ hotmail.com