#4 Kostas Chatzichristos - On Strength & Conditioning, Importance of Mentorship & Putting Your Ego Down

Kostas Chatzichristos has been the Strengths&Conditioning Coach of CSKA Moscow's basketball team the last 7years and was part of the two Euroleague title runs in 2016 & 2019. Kostas studied at the University of Texas before interning at EXOS and going on to take his first job at the University of Georgia. He later returned to Greece to continue his career at Olympiacos B.C. and later at Panionios as the Head of Performance before taking his talents to CSKA in 2014. He's also the co-founder of "Performance22", which is a training and rehab facility for athletes in Athens, Greece. Kostas has a rich history of training high level players such as Sofoklis Schortsanitis & Theodoros Papaloukas. On this episode I talked to my good friend Kostas about his journey from his early beginnings in Greece to how he achieved his dream of studying in the US and what sparked this journey to become a Strength & Conditioning Coach. He also opened up about the passing of his father at an early age and what impact that had on his life. He talked about the mentors he had throughout his journey and their impact on his career, the nuances of how to navigate certain information within the staff, f.e. players injuries, as well as the path to gaining the trust of players by putting your ego down. He also gave great examples of "make or break" moments that defined him throughout his career. We covered lots of topics and finished our conversation with a list of books that helped Kostas throughout his journey to become who he is today. Topics: Pro&Personal Background Mentors during Career Path Sharing Information&Inspiring others Dealing with Athletes Make or Break moments Communication & Putting Ego Down PowerPoint for Athletes Navigating information within staff ELSCA (Euroleague Strength&Conditioning Coaches Association) Time Management / Work&Family Books & Life Hacks Philosophical Exchange Finding Kostas: Website - https://kostaschatzichristos.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/kostas-chatzichristos-a85ab53 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kostas_chatzichristos/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/kostaschatz Affiliate Links to Kostas' favourite books: Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst: https://amzn.to/3f4SNeD Meditations - Marcus Aurelius: https://amzn.to/3hcYzgQ The Better Angels of Our Nature: https://amzn.to/3b95bJm The Gene: An Intimate History: https://amzn.to/3trgLpr The Little Prince: https://amzn.to/3bfCkmS Jonathan Livingston Seagull: https://amzn.to/3hdFg71 To support my podcast on Patreon click here (Ačiu!!): https://www.patreon.com/bmatke #kostas #chatzichristos #cskamoscow #euroleague #champion #strength&conditioning #mentorship #NoEgo Sponsors: Not yet :) Find “The Benas Podcast”: www.bmatke.com