Online fitness coaching for people in the Jacksonville area
The Jacksonville metro covers the city and the counties around it in Northeast Florida, with around eighty days a year at or above 90 F, cooler winter nights than South Florida and a lot of rain. Diogo is based in South Florida and coaches online. Jacksonville is on Eastern time, the same as me, so the call can go anywhere in your evening.
How the Jacksonville area trains, per the CDC’s metro survey
In 2023, an estimated 45.3% of adults in the Jacksonville area reported muscle-strengthening exercises two or more times a week (CDC SMART BRFSS, 95% CI 39.4 to 51.2). In 2024, an estimated 26.3% reported no physical activity or exercise in the past month (CDC SMART BRFSS, 95% CI 21.2 to 31.4). Metro samples are smaller than the state survey’s, so read the range in brackets more than the single number.
Daily life in the Jacksonville area, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, published value and margin of error together: about 17.6% of workers who live here work from home (90% margin of error plus or minus 0.5); commuters average 26.0 minutes to work (90% margin of error plus or minus 0.2); the median age is 39.3 years (90% margin of error plus or minus 0.1); 92.5% of households have a broadband subscription (90% margin of error plus or minus 0.3). Metro-area figures: your own city may differ.
Training through the heat in the Jacksonville area
At the JACKSONVILLE station (USW00013889, 17.0 km from Jacksonville's Census internal point), the 1991–2020 normal July high is 91.9 F, with 80.1 days a year at or above 90 F on average, an average January low of 42.9 F, and 53.4 inches of rain a year.
How coaching works from a distance
Diogo is based in South Florida and coaches online. Your workouts live in the Trainerize app, you weigh in twice a week, you send progress photos every two weeks, and we talk on a weekly call scheduled around your time zone. Between calls, you can message me with questions.
How does the plan handle a Jacksonville summer?
The same way it handles mine, with the outdoor work at the edges of the day. With around eighty days a year at or above 90 F and a lot of rain, the session planned for an afternoon outside in the hot months is the one that gets cut by heat or heavy rain. So walks and runs go to early morning or after dark in the hot months, lifting stays indoors all year, and a rain-out swaps the walk for a short session at home. January lows here are cooler than South Florida’s, so the cooler months are the easy season for training outside.
About a quarter of adults here report no exercise. Where would I start?
With a week small enough to keep. The survey figure above puts the share of adults in the metro who reported no physical activity in the past month at around a quarter, with a wide range in brackets, so read it as a range. If that is you, the first month is two sessions a week of five or six movements, weights that leave several reps in reserve, and a daily walk with a floor low enough to keep on a bad day. If you already lift, as the second survey figure says plenty of adults here do, the plan starts from your log instead.
Other metro areas
Up a level: Florida · How one-to-one online coaching works · How to start lifting weights · The best time to work out · Apply for coaching
Sources
- CDC, Division of Population Health — Behavioral Risk Factors: Selected Metropolitan Area Risk Trends (SMART) MMSA Prevalence Data, 2011 to present (j32a-sa6u). _TOTINDA: BRFSS SMART 2024; _PASTRNG: BRFSS SMART 2023. source
- U.S. Census Bureau (data.census.gov table API) — American Community Survey 5-year 2020-2024 (ACSDP5Y2024.DP02/DP03, ACSDT5Y2024.B01002). DP03 (0024PE/PM): ACS 2020-2024 5-year, published value and 90% MOE; DP02 (0154PE/PM): ACS 2020-2024 5-year, published value and 90% MOE; B01002 (001E/M): ACS 2020-2024 5-year, published value and 90% MOE; DP03 (0025E/M): ACS 2020-2024 5-year, published value and 90% MOE. source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information — U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020), v1.0.1, DOI 10.25921/wck8-er13. noaa-jul-high: 1991-2020 normals; station USW00013889, years of record July TMAX 29, January TMIN 29, 90 F days 28, precipitation 30; noaa-jan-low: 1991-2020 normals; station USW00013889, years of record July TMAX 29, January TMIN 29, 90 F days 28, precipitation 30. source
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information — U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (1991-2020), DOI 10.25921/4ek7-fk11. noaa-days-90: 1991-2020 normals; station USW00013889, years of record July TMAX 29, January TMIN 29, 90 F days 28, precipitation 30; noaa-precip: 1991-2020 normals; station USW00013889, years of record July TMAX 29, January TMIN 29, 90 F days 28, precipitation 30. source
- Source: CDC. Materials developed by CDC; the data are available on the agency website (data.cdc.gov) at no charge. Use of this material does not imply endorsement by CDC, ATSDR, HHS or the United States Government of Diogo Fitness or its services. Reference to specific commercial products, manufacturers, companies, or trademarks does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the U.S. Government, Department of Health and Human Services, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- This product uses Census Bureau data but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. ACS figures are 2020-2024 5-year published estimates and margins of error retrieved from data.census.gov, the Census Bureau's own server (keyless table endpoint).
- Palecki, M., Durre, I., Applequist, S., Arguez, A., Lawrimore, J. (2021). U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020), https://doi.org/10.25921/wck8-er13, and U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals (1991-2020), https://doi.org/10.25921/4ek7-fk11. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Normals are 30-year station averages and apply less well with distance from the station.