Tell us a little bit about yourself (family, job, interests/hobbies, etc). Originally from Oklahoma City, I’ve lived in Houston since 2012 working in the oil and gas industry. I love to travel, golf, ski, and hang out with my golden retriever, Brodie. When did you start at District H? I started around December 2020. What made you decide to come to District H? I’ve always had an interest in trying, but just hadn’t ever pulled the trigger. I had tried other group fitness classes, but nothing I found had the strength training component like CrossFit, which is what I was looking for. I grew up playing a lot of competitive sports, so CrossFit seemed like a natural fit for me. How has District H made an impact on your life outside of the gym? The “high” that I get from a workout carries over into everything else outside of the gym. Physical...Read more

All of our daily decisions are driven by motivation. At the very base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, these motivations tend to be those of survival. But once our basic needs of shelter, food, safety, and employment are met, we need more deeply rooted psychosocial needs like belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Motivation for these categories of needs can fall into either extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is behaviors that are driven by external rewards. In the fitness industry, and specifically within a CrossFit gym, these motivations are endless. I want to look goodI want to RX a workoutI want to be one of the top individuals on the daily white boardI want to finish in the top x% in the world in the CrossFit Open While there is nothing necessarily wrong with having these motivations, we need to be careful in terms of these be the leading motivators for...Read more

Tell us a little bit about yourself (family, job, interests/hobbies, etc).  Native Texan, grew up in Spring and spent some time in Dallas. Found my way back to Houston in 2011 and have stuck around since. My parents live on 250 acres a couple hours north of here and I have a younger sister in Colorado. I have two senior dogs who I still call my pups, Bones and Bella. I have 2 degrees, one in culinary and the other in hospitality management and currently work selling commercial foodservice equipment, yes you can ask me for restaurant recommendations. I also am the resident green thumb. I absolutely love to garden, I’ll talk your ear off about gardening and how to create a space that feeds you and pollinators. Even though I never left the country until 2008 and really didn’t start traveling till 2014, I have been to some cool places...Read more

By Miranda Johnson I’ve been asked a lot in the past about where I get my motivation to train from. This question came up again recently, and so I thought it may be worth spending a little more time diving into. After looking up the definition of motivation, I found this:  “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way” as well as “the general desire or willingness to do something”. That’s the issue though, right? Most, if not all, of us don’t always have that strong urge, “desire”, or want to do something. It’s just human nature. Whether we are talking about exercising, cleaning the house, or tasks for our actual careers, relying solely on motivation can be setting ourselves up for failure.  This may blow your mind, but quite honestly, only on certain occasions do I find myself truly “motivated” to do my...Read more

About Myself: My name is Mark Leavens. I am from Houston, TX. I am a high school art teacher at Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center. I received my BA in Studio Art from The University of Texas at Austin with an emphasis in Painting. I keep an avid studio practice by working on paintings and ceramics when I’m not at the gym trying to work on my fitness. Other hobbies include: Guitar, Synthesizers, rock climbing, long walks on the beach, cooking with my boo thang, traveling pre-covid, and throwing a frisbee to my dog Copper. When did I start Crossfit? I started Crossfit the second week of January 2020. Hell Yeah! What made you start doing Crossfit? I was in a band with Matt Gamez and he got thicc reall quick. I was like, “Yo, I’ll have what he’s having!” How has Crossfit made a difference in your life outside of...Read more