Specialised Health

Specialised Health Specialised Health provides exercise physiology services for those undergoing rehabilitation in the Income Protection, CTP and Workcover schemes.

Our objective is to work with your rehab team to help you achieve your recovery goals. We help clients return to work and everything else they loved doing before injury or illness took over. From mental illness to musculoskeletal injuries, our awesome Exercise Physiologists tailor exercise-based rehab programs to meet each client's needs.

Another warm welcome to Isabella, our newest Exercise Physiologist based in Palmerston North, New Zealand!With a Bachelo...
03/09/2026

Another warm welcome to Isabella, our newest Exercise Physiologist based in Palmerston North, New Zealand!

With a Bachelor in Sport and Exercise, a Master’s in Health Science, and six years of clinical experience, Isabella specialises in building functional capacity and quality of life for those with complex chronic conditions. She is particularly skilled in working with clients navigating multi-provider care, delivering clear, structured exercise frameworks that respect referrer timeframes and empower clients to regain independence.

3 facts about Isabella:
- She's a baker at heart and loves trying out new recipes in the kitchen!
- She is currently building back up to her first 10km run since high school.
- She is always keen to play or watch a game of netball!

We’re excited to gain her practical, collaborative approach and strong rehabilitation expertise in our team!

03/09/2026

Want to know why claimants with persistent fatigue relapse just when they seem to be improving?

They're living in a boom-and-bust loop.

Clients often feel good for a day, overdo their daily tasks and then end up bedridden for a week.

They aren't trying to fail, they simply lack the tools to measure their internal limits before hitting a wall.

Biometric monitoring changes the game.

By analysing baseline HRV trends alongside heart-rate activity tracking, we can pinpoint exact moments of overexertion during weekly routines.

This allows us to teach clients how to break up high-load activities, spot early red flags and implement pre-emptive rest long before a bust occurs.

Transforming "unfit" into "fit for work" requires teaching clients how to manage their energy envelope independently.

Head over to the blog to see how biometric-led pacing creates long-term independence for complex claims.

01/09/2026

What’s the fastest way to slow the recovery of a Long COVID or chronic fatigue file?

Pushing for progress on a red-light day.

Managing Post-Exertional Malaise requires treating a client's daily energy like a finite bank account.

The goal of pacing isn't to spend every dollar, it's to finish every single day with leftover capital so the system can actually recharge.

We give our clients a simple, traffic-light framework based on daily HRV biometric data to eliminate the guess-and-check approach.

🟢 Nervous system is balanced. Safe for gentle, structured exercise.
🟡🔴High physiological stress. Pivot immediately from exercise to active down-regulation and rest.

When you base daily movement decisions on objective nervous system data instead of rigid plans, you prevent setbacks and keep recovery moving forward.

Give our latest article a read to see how we apply this across our fatigue programs.

27/08/2026

Is Graded Exercise Therapy doing more harm than good for your complex fatigue files?

The short answer is yes.

Enforcing rigid, calendar-based increases in exercise intensity for clients with PEM is a recipe for a massive claim setback.

You can't schedule recovery on a calendar when the nervous system is running on empty.

Rehab should respond to real-time physiology, not a fixed schedule.

Through our Bounce program, we map a client's autonomic nervous system using HRV and activity tracking.

If an activity causes an HRV drop 24 to 48 hours later, we get objective proof that the load was too high, allowing us to modify volume on the spot before a full-blown bust happens.

Stop relying on trial-and-error with fatigue management.

Read the blog to learn how objective biometrics remove the guesswork and protect claim reserves.

25/08/2026

Why are so many chronic fatigue claims stuck in a cycle of relapse?

Because standard rehab is still trying to push through a wall that requires a key.

When clients with Long COVID, ME/CFS, or severe fatigue try to push through symptoms, their body doesn't build tolerance, it crashes.

This isn't a lack of effort, it's Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).

Pushing harder drains an energy battery that is already running on low.

The solution isn't calendar-based progression, it's data-driven pacing.

By using biometric tools like Heart Rate Variability (HRV), we establish a physiological baseline before touching exercise.

A daily morning HRV score tells us instantly if the nervous system is balanced for movement (Green) or needs restorative down-regulation like breathwork (Yellow/Red).

If you want to turn high-risk fatigue claims into durable return-to-work outcomes, replace rigid schedules with responsive, data-backed boundaries.

Check out our latest blog on managing PEM with biometrics to see how our Bounce program stops the crash cycle for good.

Managing chronic fatigue claims presents a delicate challenge for insurers and rehabilitation consultants: How do you pu...
23/08/2026

Managing chronic fatigue claims presents a delicate challenge for insurers and rehabilitation consultants: How do you push for increases in functional capacity without triggering a severe setback?

The answer isn't Graded Exercise Therapy. The clinical evidence is clear: rigid, calendar-based progressions can exacerbate Post Exertional Malaise (PEM).

Specialised Health’s Bounce Program utilises Heart Rate Variability (HRV) tracking to deliver responsive, data-driven rehabilitation:

- Traffic-Light System: Daily readiness scores help us to tailor exercise sessions based on their autonomic nervous system balance on the day.
- Load Tolerance: Monitoring response over 12-48 hours ensures that they are tolerating their exercise sessions well.
- Steady Progressions: Tracking daily HRV scores gives us objective data to support increases in capacity. We know when to step forward, and when to slow down.

Learn how our Bounce program eliminates trial-and-error in fatigue rehabilitation. The link is in the comments!

20/08/2026

Standard rehab models fail complex fatigue cases.

Here is why.

Applying standard linear progression to Long COVID, ME/CFS, or post-viral fatigue isn't just ineffective, it's risky.

Because Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM) turns ordinary daily tasks into major systemic stressors, predictable progress requires a completely different approach

When you replace traditional loading with systematic screening, measurement and monitoring, you stop guessing.

Mapping a client's exact triggers, whether cognitive (screen time) or physical (walking), allows you to keep movement strictly within their energy envelope.

That's how you convert an unpredictable recovery path into measurable, step-by-step progress.

Check our latest blog to learn how data-driven exercise physiology manages complex fatigue conditions.

18/08/2026

It's not uncommon for clients with fatigue-based conditions to have significant setbacks and lose confidence with exercise.

Everything seems to be moving in the right direction, they've been told to exercise, they are motivated, they complete their session without complaint and finish feeling strong.

Then, 48 hours later, the fatigue is worse.

A common question we get from case managers is: "They've tried exercise already. Do you think your programme is any different?"

Our answer often includes explaining one critical aspect of our approach that is regularly missed: Measuring and managing Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).

We know that the physiological "cost" of exertion rarely shows up while the exercise is happening.

It hits 12 to 48 hours later.

If you assess a client's tolerance strictly by how they look or feel during the session, you're looking at incomplete data.

Don't measure session success at the last repetition. Measure it at the 48-hour mark.

Read the blog to understand how delayed fatigue triggers impact long-term return to work.

13/08/2026

A client told us every previous workout had felt like taking one step forward and three steps back.

They were motivated to move, but every attempt left them bedbound.

Exercise had stopped feeling like rehab and started feeling like a threat.

The issue wasn't a lack of effort, it was Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).

The crash didn't hit during the workout, it hit 24 hours later as severe brain fog and flu-like pain.

When we started and shifted their programme from arbitrary exercise targets to objective fatigue boundary management, everything changed.

They stopped crashing and started rebuilding capacity.

Ask your fatigue clients if their worst symptoms hit 12 to 48 hours after physical or mental effort.

Check the full blog to see the 6 screening questions we use to stop the push-crash cycle.

11/08/2026

If you treat Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM) like standard physical deconditioning, you risk causing real harm.

Standard rehab relies on progressive overload: push a little more each week to build strength.

But for clients with PEM, pushing through fatigue doesn't build resilience, it causes a systemic crash.

Every time a client enters a "push-crash" cycle, their baseline functional capacity drops, making future recovery even harder.

Effective management isn't about pushing limits, it's about respecting them.

True progress lies in staying within the energy envelope so movement supports health rather than triggering a relapse.

Screen all fatigue claims for delayed symptom spikes before advancing physical tasks.

Read our latest blog post to learn how to spot PEM early and safeguard your clients' progress.

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PO Box 604
Mosman, NSW
2088

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