Eric Cruz - Kinesiologist, Functional Nutritionist

Eric Cruz started his journey in health and fitness at the age of 13. After growing up as an overweight youth, he found exercise and nutrition as an empowering path for changing his life. Through reading and watching anything he could get his hands on related to health, Eric became his own experiment and first client. As he started to see results, he found that this lifestyle not only made him better physically, but mentally as well. He gained self-confidence and a stronger drive for achievement and knew this was what he would spend the rest of his life practicing. Eager to get out in the field, Eric completed his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from Missouri State University early and moved to California. There, he attended California State University at Long Beach and received a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. While his conventional education is foundational, he believes that continuing education is where health professionals really evolve and make a difference. To solidify his knowledge and expertise as a fitness professional Eric received credentials as a Certified Exercise Physiologist (EP-C) and Level II Exercise is Medicine Practitioner (EIM2) through the American College of Sports Medicine, an MS Fitness and Wellness Specialist (MSFW) through American Fitness Professionals and Associates, a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and Functional Movement Techniques (FMT). With a strong foundation in the science of movement, Eric then took his nutrition education and practice to the next level by becoming a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). It is this area that really sets him apart as a health and wellness professional as he brings the full picture of fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle together.

“While exercise or nutrition can be beneficial in different aspects, it is the two combined that truly allows the client to obtain optimal results. Every individual is unique in genetic build and current lifestyle. Therefore each individual responds differently and may require different changes in behavior to reach their respective goals. No mode of exercise is perfect for everyone just as no single diet is perfect for everyone. The time of one size fits all in nutrition and fitness is gone. We must analyze people inside and out to provide truly optimal recommendations and results.”

Mission and Practice

Eric’s nutrition practice is progressive with a holistic and functional nutrition approach. He runs functional lab work to obtain a clear picture as to what the client is dealing with on the inside, not just symptoms on the outside. By identifying healing opportunities in various areas in the body, he gets to the root cause of many health complaints such as weight regulation, hormone imbalances, lack of energy, digestive complaints, autoimmune conditions, and sleep problems. His target populations are digestive disorders, degenerative diseases (MS, RA, Fibromyalgia), and weight loss.

In his fitness practice, Eric works with a wide variety of populations ranging from 8 year old kids to seniors. He focuses on empowering others and helping them achieve results with functional movement at the center. By identifying movement dysfunction, lifestyle demands and goals of the client, Eric helps them reach their goals safely and efficiently through exercise physiology, corrective and functional exercise, and coaching. Because of this approach and his broad expertise, Eric tends to work with many disabled populations. His current list of clients includes those with: Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Amputees Lyme Disease, Cancer, Brain/Spinal Cord Injury, and Stroke. His target populations are special populations (such as those above), pain relief, and chronic illness.