The Pre-Competition Mind and Training of a Surgeon-Athlete
Competing is hard. It demands energy in many forms… physical, mental, and emotional to name a few. I often wonder why I keep getting the itch to do it. Why inject so much stress into my system? I'm already a surgeon for the military. Stress is not exactly in short supply.
Then I watch my students on the mat, or catch a friend competing on TV, and my heart rate climbs like I'm the one out there. My body responds before my brain does. I smile, and I want to be out there.
In this newsletter, I'm breaking down how I train for competition around a surgeon's schedule, two dogs, and a fiancé. Plus how I manage the mental side of it, because that's where many matches are won or lost.
6-8 Weeks Out
Before this window, I train jiu jitsu 3–6 days a week, lift twice a week, and do hot yoga once. At the 6–8 week mark, the schedule stays similar, but the intention shifts entirely.
Everything becomes about the gameplan. I'm selective about who I drill with: training partners who will challenge me and who I trust to keep me healthy. Getting injured in camp is a tough pill to swallow.
Rounds stop being brawls. A 6-minute round might be 2 minutes of takedowns, 2 minutes of passing, 2 minutes of pulling. I ask my partner for 25% resistance… not to go easy, but to give methodical counters so my body learns to move without waiting for my brain to catch up. Once or twice a week, I open it up for full cardio rounds to make sure I'm ready for 10 minutes at pace.
Lifting stays in the schedule… not just for performance, but because it keeps me sane. I build a plan that hits every body part in 2–3 sessions a week, which is the most my schedule realistically allows. Sometimes that means squeezing a session in between surgeries or at lunch. That's just the reality.
Competition Week
I work 5–7 days a week. The week before my superfight last Saturday, I was on call. I operated the day before to clear my plate… not ideal, but it's what the week gave me. I've learned to accept this because if I don’t, then I’d never compete.
My last day on the mats for a Saturday competition is Wednesday: one partner, 10-minute rounds, technical and exhausting. Safe.
Thursday and Friday are non-negotiable recovery days. Sauna, ice baths, walks with the dogs. I stay off the mats entirely to let my body rest and my mind reset.
Recovery
My number one recovery tool is sleep. Seven to nine hours is the goal. It’s not always realistic for an orthopaedic surgeon on call, but I protect it as much as I can.
Training at night can make it hard to wind down, so I've built a routine around it: magnesium, mushroom sleepy time tea, screens off by 8:30 or 9pm, a few pages of a book or some journaling, and asleep by 9:30.
Beyond sleep: visualizations, sauna, ice bath, Normatecs, PT modalities, and massage. Each one has a role. None of them replaces the sleep.
Competition Anxiety
This is real. I've watched so many athletes beat themselves before they ever step on the mat. And anyone who says they don't get nervous before competing… I'm not sure I believe them. But if it's true, please teach me your ways.
My life coach and my fiancé are my biggest anchors here. When I get in my head, I talk it through with them. We go through strategies. We process it out loud.
The work I've done on this comes down to a couple of reframes. The first is that everyone feels this. The nerves aren't a sign that something's wrong. They're energy and they are normal. The goal is to use them instead of being buried by them. Easier said than done. But, just as any skill, it gets better with practice. The second reframe is that I’m competing to put on a show. I stop being so attached to the outcome (win or lose). Instead, I tell myself that a win is going for the finish with technical jiu jitsu and coming out healthy to operate on Monday!
Visualizations have been a game-changer for me. I use an app with a 7-minute guided visualization… before competitions, before big surgeries, almost daily in the weeks leading up to a big moment. Repetition builds belief. That's the whole idea.
Final Thoughts
Last Saturday, I went 10 minutes. Full round. I made mistakes and I put on a great performance. That's the thing about competition prep: it's not about engineering a perfect performance. It's about building a version of yourself that can handle imperfect moments without falling apart.
The training, the sleep, the visualizations, the conversations with people who know me… all of it is my routine. So that when the moment comes and nothing feels quite right, the body already knows what to do.
Competing at 37, with a full surgical career, two dogs, and a fiancé who has to deal with my pre-comp energy… I'm not doing this in ideal conditions. But it never is. You work with what you have, you show up prepared, and you trust the work.
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Dr. Megan Lisset Jimenez
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