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Power Crunch gets expert feedback on a different workout routine every week. This week, The Border's Nazneed Contractor shares her exercise plan.

My goal

"To maintain strength and flexibility and to keep my heart in good shape and just to feel good about myself."

My workout

40 minutes of cardio. "I try to do it every single day and that usually consists of running. If I can't run for whatever reason, it'll be on the exercise bike or an elliptical."

150 reverse crunches and 15 to 20 push-ups: "I develop muscle very easily and have to be careful not to bulk up too much."

Yoga: "I do really basic yoga: five sun salutations, splits all three ways, opening of the hip flexors - my hips are really tight - triangle pose, bridges, plows - whatever my body needs."

My lifestyle

"I wish I got more sleep, that's for sure. I average about six hours a night. But I really try to make time for my workout. So even if I'm shooting, if my pickup is 5:30 in the morning, I'll wake up at 3:30 so I can run.

"I walk just about everywhere. If I have time, I'll walk to a destination as opposed to getting into a cab or getting on a subway or driving in a car. I feel like I'm doing something for the environment, as well as for my body.

"I really love my food. I love to cook. That's sort of an excuse for me exercising every day - that I can eat basically what I want and still feel good about myself knowing that I'm exercising."

My motivation

"Being a dancer in my youth and in my teens, I've been so physically active my entire life that it's just always been a part of me, my spirit. I have an excess amount of energy: I go to school, I work in a restaurant, I work as an actress, I volunteer, I do a lot of things all the time. So I really like to keep my motor going. ...

"And I really want to look great. I mean, I am an actress, so it's my job to be at the top of my physical condition. And it really helps for The Border. I was able to do almost all of my own stunts because I was in such good physical shape."

My workout anthem

"Even when I run outside, I rarely listen to music. ... [At home] I just catch up on all the TV shows that I've missed. I'll go and rent the first season of Rome and spend a week watching it on the treadmill, or I'll rent Nip/Tuck or Dexter or shows I would never get a chance to watch otherwise."

My challenge

"Sometimes fatigue is an issue, because I'm tired, but I push myself anyway. ... Even when I'm on a holiday and it's too hot to run outside or it's raining, I'll do 30 minutes of cardio on the spot."

The critique

Ease up on the running

Paul Plakas, an Edmonton-based trainer and host of the show X-Weighted, advises Ms. Contractor to rein in her urge to run each day. "If you're not a competitive runner, I would never run more than three times per week," he says. "The human body isn't meant to take that kind of impact repeatedly day in and day out."

Ditch the elliptical

Increased cross-training would help Ms. Contractor reduce her risk of injury, Mr. Plakas says. But he thinks she should retire the elliptical in favour of more functional activities. "The elliptical won't make you a better runner, walker, hiker or stair climber," he says. "It will only make you better at doing the elliptical."

Add weight training

Mr. Plakas recommends a circuit of body-weight and free-weight exercises to work multiple joints, build core strength, increase muscular endurance and burn fat, with low risk of repetitive stress injuries. This won't make Ms. Contractor too muscular, he says, "because the weights used in a circuit are moderate."

Move those stretches

To help her prepare for action scenes, Ms. Contractor should add dynamic stretches to her static yoga poses, Mr. Plakas says. "If she wants to continue doing her own stunts," he says, "the body needs to be strong and flexible at all points in the joints' range of motion, not in just the one position she's holding."