Introduction: resting pulse rate (rPr) is a user-friendly method of assessing neurological fitness. rPr tends to be low in athletes and healthy people. a novel method for monitoring an individual's rPr over time is presented, where the subject experienced different levels of exercise rigor. the method may be of interest to those who would also like to monitor their level of neurological fitness using rPr.Methods: an adult male, who is a chiropractor and author of this paper, self-measured and analyzed his rPr over a 1.6 year period (293 rPr measurements). Four phases of exercise that differed in rigor were analyzed: Low rigor solo (Phase 1); high rigor solo (Phase 2); high rigor solo + a structured running program (Phase 3) 6 days total per week running; and alternating run and bicycling (Phase 4). Consecutive phases were analyzed using the two sample t test and effect size statistics.Results: rPr decreased (improved) steadily from Phase 1 to Phase 3. the difference between consecutive phases was statistically significant (P < 0.0001) with large effect sizes (of > 0.5). there was no statistical difference between phases 3 and 4.