In the gym, a French press is an exercise that builds triceps strength. You lie on your back to lower and raise a barbell by bending and straightening your arms.

In the kitchen, a French press is a way to strengthen the flavor of brewed coffee by allowing more of the beans' oils to permeate the liquid.

We don't actually recommend the gym version because you can injure yourself too easily. Instead, try the shoulder matrix exercise: Holding a two-pound dumbbell in each hand, position the weights at your shoulders. Press them straight over your head. Bring them back down to your shoulders. On your next repetition, press them up and slightly to the left. Next time press to the right, then forward, then slightly backward. Repeat the cycle.

French press coffee turns out not to be a good idea either. A recent study that looked at coffee-brewing methods as they relate to risk for heart attack and death adds an exclamation point to what we've been saying for years: Unfiltered coffee raises the risk of cardiovascular problems.

On the other hand, filtered coffee is safer even than drinking no coffee at all.  

The research, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, revealed that a cup of unfiltered coffee contains about 30 times greater concentration of harmful lipid-raising substances than filtered coffee.

So enjoy one to four cups a day of filtered coffee (with no sugar, sugar substitutes, or creamers) and try that shoulder matrix exercise. The combination will do wonders for your heart.