Wednesday Wrap Up #6 - KEEP GOING.
I made a new landing page, found a cool tiny house, and have the perfect ankle mobility protocol
Brook Slagle • 2023-11-29
yo! brook here.
Welcome to Wednesday Wrap Up # 6.
In this letter, I discuss my new landing page, my ankle mobility protocol, a tiny house, and more!
Let’s start with the new landing page.
A new landing page for the newsletter.
To continue building in public, I want to announce an improvement I made recently to my newsletter: a new landing page!
You can find the landing page here at https://kg.brookslagle.com
First of all, I had a fine landing page - it wasn’t converting like crazy, but it worked.
So…
Why did I change this?
Truth be told, I knew my previous one was a little wack, and it was a ConvertKit template. ConvertKit has good templates, but my branding required a little bit more customization to match, so I made something custom.
It was a good excuse for me to get in another rep with building newsletter landing pages and build something new.
What are the improvements?
The goal was to create something that matched my branding better.
Here is the KEEP GOING newsletter brand guidelines:
000000 for mostly everything non-text / image related
Inter font
Minimalist and sleek.
My previous one wasn’t very sleek, and on mobile it didn’t correctly load the Inter font.
So the new one:
was designed for mobile first.
has no ConvertKit branding.
matches desired fonts.
How will this effect my newsletter?
Well… hopefully positively!
This landing page shooooould convert better.
It exudes something more precise to the branding.
And simply put, it conveys what I imagine my newsletter landing page should be.
The only thing that would make it better is if I had some testimonials on there.
(feel free to reply with a testimonial or use this link https://senja.io/p/brook-slagle/r/RxBdVk)
*here is my OLD page https://mail.brookslagle.com for reference.
do you struggle to get into deep squat? maybe your ankles are lacking mobility… here is my Ankle Dorsiflexion protocol to fix that:
First of all… what is ankle dorsiflexion? Simply put… it is how far your knee can travel past your toes.
I used to have super stiff ankles. And it prohibited me from getting into a deep squat. No matter what hip mobility drills I would do… I would always end up tipping backwards because my knees couldn’t go ahead of my toes far enough.
I did a fuck ton of research and created this protocol that took me from being literally incapable of a deep squat to being able to hold one for over 2 minutes (not kidding, see the video here: video)
It takes less than 15 mins btw.
My Ankle Dorsiflexion Protocol:
Exercise 1 (optional): Myofascial release - without the jargon: rub the backside of your calf. About 3-5 inches above your heel. Rub in a downwards motion (towards the heel ) to release the fascia tissue.
Do this for 1-2 mins on each leg.
Exercise 2: Banded ankle join mobilization - Grab a resistance band and strap it to a poll or squat rack beam, and lower the band to the ground.
Wrap the other side of the band around your ankle then push your knee past your toes while keeping your heel on the floor.
1-2 sets of 10 reps with a hold at end range. (video for extra help: video)
Exercise 3: Ankle Dorsiflexion Level II ERE - This is four, ten second isolated holds in the primary expressions of movement that the ankle can do.
First, pull your toe towards your knee and hold for ten seconds (pretty much an isolated tib raise).
Secondly, pull the outside of your foot towards your knee and hold for ten seconds.
Thirdly, pull the inside of your foot towards your knee and… you get the idea, hold for ten seconds.
Finally do the opposite of the first and push your toes away from your knee and hold for ten.
Do this on each leg 2-4 times. link for more detail and demo
Exercise 4: Patrick step - This is effectively a single leg squat, just isolating the ankle joint as the primary moving joint.
Do this by doing a single leg squat but don’t lift your non-working leg off the ground, instead keep it straight & slide it on the ground. See how far you can get with just your ankle mobility on your working leg. (tip, measure this and gauge your progress overtime)
Do 6-8 reps of this on each side. 2-3.
Exercise 5 (optional): Cossack squats - This is my favorite, it is a lateral squat that will truly test and stress your ankle dorsiflexion.
This one is optional because you might not be able to do this. Work up to this and have this as a goal if you are not here yet.
Doing the Cossack squat to increase your ankle mobility means focusing on sitting deeply into the end range and rest there. I aim for 5 reps each side with at least a few seconds hold at the bottom of each rep.
You should see some serious gains in a few weeks of doing this protocol.
Spoiler alert: I pretty much just copied this guy’s protocol. Watch this video to go a little more in depth link
what music have I been digging: Spotify “made for you” playlists
I don’t have a specific album recommendation or podcast this week.
Instead, I have been using Spotify’s generated for you playlists.
You can find these under the “made for you” section on the homepage of the Spotify web app, or under the search tab on the mobile app.
I created a folder in Spotify that has all of my generated mixes.
For whatever mood I am in, I will throw on one of these and vibe out.
sorry apple/yt music friends…
a sick tiny house in the woods of Ohio video
Ever since I stumbled across this video, I can’t get it out of my head.
A “tiny” house like this seems VERY doable.
Add in an outdoor garage with a gym and you got me.
And maybe a trampoline.
✨dream house✨
What do you think?
Could you live in a tiny house?
Do you or have you struggled with your ankle mobility?
Let me know! Drop me a reply, I am always here to chat!!
As always…
KEEP GOING
B.S.
btw - click this link to read past editions of the KEEP GOING Newsletter.