PHOTO PROVIDED Chad Kamerer shows his fans his progress.

“It became a lifestyle I was hooked from an early age, and it’s become a lifestyle that I’ve carried on to this day,” said South Williamsport resident Chad Kamerer of his devotion to physical fitness.

Kamerer began working out at age 15 while playing high school baseball and football, and during his senior year would be voted best physique.

Just over two months ago, Kamerer set up his own fitness page on Instagram, @ck_fitness48, focused on healthy clean eating, fitness tips and more.

“I give examples of the meals that my wife and I prepare, guided on organic ingredients, where to source it, what to look for, what to stay away from,” he said.

“It’s free and designed to motivate people who don’t know where to start, to take better care of themselves. I put some inspirational things on there, and I’m a life coach, so there’s also a mental aspect to what I do,” said Kamerer, who studied pre-med and exercise physiology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Many of the workout routines he posts are easily transferable from the gym for use at home, as Kamerer is well aware that many people have aversions to working out in public.

“You can start by just taking a 15 minute walk or looking at your diet,” he said.

Kamerer’s page has seen consistent growth.

“I’ll pick up 10 or so new followers every day, and it just keeps getting bigger, and more people are reaching out and networking. And these are people with much higher followings themselves, so the algorithm is connecting me with legitimate people in the industry,” he explained.

Just a few weeks after setting up the page, Kamerer, 48, discovered the Mr. Health & Fitness competition run by Muscle & Fitness Magazine.

Chosen by public vote, the winner will receive $20,000 and a two-page spread in the magazine.

But as Kamerer stressed, the competition functions as a fundraiser for the Andrew McDonough B+ Cancer Foundation, named in honor of the 14-year-old who passed away from leukemia in 2007, after battling the disease for 167 days.

“They named it ‘B+ Foundation’ because that’s what his blood type was,” Kamerer explained.

The competition began with a total of 38,304 competitors, comprising 672 groups of 57 people, according to Kamerer, who has been in first place in his group since being accepted.

Though appearance-wise, this is a physique competition, Kamerer quickly learned that it was so much more.

“If you look at a lot of the competitors’ back stories, a lot of these people have had traumatic car accidents, where they were paralyzed and never thought they would walk again, let alone walk into a gym and rehab themselves through fitness, or they’ve overcome years of addiction, and now they’re healthy and promoting fitness. That’s what it’s about, and that kind of revealed itself as we went along,” Kamerer said, calling the experience “humbling.”

“It’s about fitness in general. The ultimate winner could look like the guy that’s never stepped in the gym in his life, but it’s all based on how much exposure you can promote for yourself and for the charity,” he said.

Though Kamerer acknowledged that $20,000 would be life changing for him and his family, he has already publicly pledged to donate that prize money to the Tim Tebow Foundation, an organization focused on ending child exploitation and sex trafficking.

“One of my best friends, who I studied energy healing and life coaching under for three and a half years, is a psychotherapist that works strictly with children … I have five kids of my own, and I couldn’t imagine being in that position where this happened to one of my kids, and it just seems like it’s everywhere,” he said, noting that many of the perpetrators come from positions that give them the ability to carry out these crimes.

“My only prize, personally, would be the exposure from being on the magazine cover. I could use that to really boost my page, and reach more people,” said Kamerer, currently a union pipe fitter and welder.

“I have my training certifications to develop an online training program, do personal one-on-one training, which I’ve been doing part-time, but it’s something I want to move into full time,” he said.

Kamerer’s devotion to fitness is a family affair, with sons, Braydon and Cameron both involved in high school sports and his two daughters involved in dance.

Additionally, Kamerer’s fiance, Brynn, is a certified herbalist, with her own brand line of cream, sows, body lotion, and more.

Overall, Kamerer hopes that his efforts can help inspire people to want to live a healthier life.

“I want them to see, ‘hey, this guy’s 48 years old and he’s still in pretty good shape, there’s no reason I can’t do the same,” he said.

“I’m trying to get through to people that it’s never too late. You can give the people you love a couple more years with you,” Kamerer stressed.

Public voting for Mr. Health & Fitness is ongoing through April 2, with the winner to be announced on or before April 24.

To vote for Kamerer, please visit his profile at https://mrhealthandfit.com/2026/chad-kamerer.