Vic Verdier
Vic Verdier, BExerSc, CSCS, StrongFirst Elite Instructor, FMS2, GFM2
Vic Verdier has been a sport enthusiast since his childhood in Paris, working as an instructor for more than 35 years and training more than 3,000 instructors worldwide in disciplines from Scuba diving to fitness.
Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, Vic first taught physical training and other military-related activities as an officer in the French Commandos, the French Navy’s special operation forces. After ten years in the military, Vic spent a peripatetic two decades teaching elite cave diving and mixed-gas deep diving around the globe—in the process becoming one of the planet’s deepest explorers. Vic held a 2006 world record for the deepest shipwreck dive (650 feet, in the Philippines), using state-of-the-art rebreathers that, Vic says wryly, “no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to use.”
After having taught Thai Boxing in Thailand for a few years, he was hired by MovNat, a company specialized in natural movement certifications and outdoor activities, as a Master Instructor and General Manager. Vic is a self-defense instructor, swimming coach, an experienced strength and conditioning coach, and the author of 200-plus sport-related articles and eight books on technical diving in English and French. He discovered kettlebell training in 2009 in Malaysia. Today, he’s part of several projects designed to improve the tools StrongFirst instructors use.
Vic (aka “the man in black”) brings to Kettlebility his lifelong expertise in—and passion for—movement and sport, along with his managerial skills honed as a general manager for various Scuba diving centers and MovNat LLC.
Vic has a Bachelor in Exercise Science from France and an alphabet soup of certifications including StrongFirst SFG2, SFL and SFB, FMS Level 2, GFM Level 2, USAW Level 2, CSCS, POSE Running Instructor, CrossFit Trainer, Oxygen Advantage Instructor and more.
7 Questions with Vic
Favorite health food you couldn’t live without:
Boudin noir (a.k.a. blood pudding)
Favorite non-health food you couldn’t live without:
Cigars (wait… is that food?)
Favorite KB technique:
Anything with double kettlebells, especially clean & jerk and push press
Proudest moment:
Completing a 12-hour scuba dive in the deepest cave in Asia
Who is your hero?
“The Most Interesting Man in the World”
What’s on your bucket list?
More skydiving, in particular wingsuit jumps. And visiting Brazil and Russia, two of the few countries I haven’t been to.
Your mantra?
Everything is better with bacon and an electric guitar.
