A competition for the most Fit Man on Campus is in the running, starting with 16 candidates and currently down to four, one of whom is an ISU student.

Sending in videos every few weeks, Jeff Zabrin, sophomore English major at ISU and one of only four candidates left in Fit Man on Campus, is representing ISU in the competition.

“So you do challenges — they give you a list of challenges every round, and the challenges are pretty basic and not that hard, but you just have to complete them and they’re for points,” Zabrin said.

Zabrin would not be a part of this competition without his roommate Joel Thoms, sophomore physical education major. Thoms was looking for exercises online when he found Fit Man on Campus, he said.

“Immediately I thought of Jeff because that’s literally his life, and I knew he would never want to do it unless [someone pushed him to sign up], so I took the liberty to start filling out information and basically signed him up,” Thoms said.

According to Zabrin, the competition is sponsored by different companies, which provide the candidates with different apparel, such as Vibram Five Finger shoes. The candidates then videotape themselves doing the challenges with the products to receive extra points, he explained.

“I felt like since I was the one who kind of got him in this competition I would help him out, help film his exercises and doing the challenges, and I kind of helped promote him a little bit around campus and actually back in my hometown,” Thoms said. “I do what I can for him.”

There are multiple challenges for each round and not all are always completed; but the more completed, the more points the contestant wins, Zabrin explained. There are also social points for fans to vote on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, he added.

To get motivated, Zabrin competes with his two brothers, ages 19 and 21.

“We’re each a year apart and we’re super competitive, so like my older brother would always be the biggest and he’s always better than us, and I’m the middle and my little brother is a little smaller than me so we always go back and forth.”        

Zabrin definitely has the talent and capability to win, Thoms said.

“After looking at the other contestants, I feel like Jeff is more than qualified,” he explained. “Working out is like one of his main priorities everyday.”

The rounds each last about two to three weeks. The competition began in September and the finals, which will consist of the final two candidates, will begin Friday.        

According to fitmanoncampus.com, the winner will be chosen near Wednesday, Dec. 12. One winner will receive a photo shoot with “Men’s Fitness” magazine and a gift package with fitness and college gear worth $500, the website said.

To vote for Zabrin or for more information, visit www.fitmanoncampus.com.