Eric Velazquez, CSCS, is an editor, strength and conditioning coach, and sworn peace officer in Southern California. He is a veteran of several of the fitness industry's most respected magazine titles and co-author of "The PrayFit Diet." In 2017, he graduated as president of his class from the Criminal Justice Training Center at Golden West College.

Velazquez has trained like a boxer with Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach, wrestled with UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, and practiced hand-to-hand combat with Army Rangers at Fort Benning (Georgia), all in the name of providing readers with a more visceral, entertaining brand of service. He also spent six weeks embedded in the intense world of CrossFit in 2006, penning one of the first mainstream features on what has become a global fitness phenomenon.

Velazquez has always had a particular interest in the training programs used by tactical athletes, which often border on the extreme. His profile on the workouts employed by instructors at Army Combatives School was nominated for a Maggie Award by the Western Publishing Association in 2009. Velazquez did a three-day media embed aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in 2008. In 2013, he profiled the elite officers of the Los Angeles Police Department's storied Metro Division, whose officers spend the first 90 minutes of each shift in the gym. He also profiled Silver Star recipient and former UFC star Brian Stann and penned a feature on the new Army physical preparedness standards for Muscle & Fitness magazine.

Velazquez is currently a police officer in Orange County and is trained as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) and Crime Scene Investigator (CSI). He and his wife, Wendy, live with their two daughters in Southern California.