If you want a stronger cardiovascular system, you could start riding a stationary bike or you could incorporate walnuts into your diet. I suggest the latter.

My dad was sort of a hippie when I was a kid. We had granola in the house before it was a thing. We also had an unreasonable ratio of nuts and seeds to other foods. Walnuts were always available. Of course, pops wasn’t optimizing for convenience or efficiency. Unfortunately, the walnuts were always unshelled, so we had to break out the heavy-duty silver nut crackers. Walnut shells are sort of slippery, so this was a major pain the ass. It was worth it. The health benefits are undeniable. From whfoods.com:

No aspect of walnuts has been better evaluated in the research than their benefits for the heart and circulatory system. Some review studies have emphasized the very favorable impact of walnuts on “vascular reactivity,” namely, the ability of our blood vessels to respond to various stimuli in a healthy manner. In order to respond to different stimuli in a healthy way, many aspects of our cardiovascular system must be functioning optimally. These aspects include: ample presence of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients, proper blood composition, correct balance in inflammation-regulating molecules, and proper composition and flexibility in our blood vessel walls. Researchers have determined the ability of walnuts to have a favorable impact on all of these aspects.

Seriously, I engage in zero strenuous cardio; I simply crush walnuts.

Fine, that’s silly, but just for fun, let’s discuss why it makes sense to eat walnuts and get under the bar. We will have to use our imagination, but that’s what we do here. We research and dream. Can walnuts boost your testosterone production and subsequently your dead lift? If you’re a rat, probably. Check out this study on rats from the American Journal of Ethnomedicine:

In the groups receiving walnut oil in the pre-puberty period, testosterone levels significantly increased (P