Mornings in the 24-hour training room of Build Your Temple Fitness have a different feel than the average gym environment. There’s an absence of the loud music synonymous with gyms — there’s the sound of chatter between those working out instead.
One of the independent trainers in the gym and owner of Define Fitness, which rents space in Build Your Temple, Carol Carpenter, is one of leading voices in that chatter. She can have several clients in the gym at one time, and she looks happy to see all of them. She considers it her passion to bring joy and confidence to people through physical fitness.
“I was a young girl who fell into some bad habits,” Carpenter said. “I didn’t know how to stay healthy, how to eat right and had quite a bit of issues with my body image. As I got older, I recognized how many people were dealing with issues of not knowing what diet would work or what fitness program they should do. So, about 11 years ago, I decided I was going to make it my full-time job to learn the science behind fitness and help others.”
An Oxford resident, she works one-on-one with clients in Build Your Temple and trains some of Oxford High School’s sports teams. She has clients from eight years old to over 60 and works with everyone from athletes to gastric bypass patients. She enjoys helping them all reach their potential.
“I like watching people transform,” Carpenter said. “The great thing about my job is that people leave their stressful job, come to me and I help them get rid of their stress. They can feel good about themselves and achieve things.”
One of the clients she’s seen achieve great things is 22-year-old Grayson Bourdeau. Bourdeau came to her with an interest in weightlifting as a hobby in 2015 and has been diligent with it since. Bourdeau is different than Carpenter’s average client because he lives with autism spectrum disorder. But neither he nor Carpenter let that define him.
“He’s a special guy, I’ve gotten to know him really well…” Carpenter said. “I have never seen somebody more diligent and more focused on his goals than this kid.”
In the three years he has trained with Carpenter, Bourdeau has shown an interest in competitive bodybuilding. Though Carpenter doesn’t often recommend bodybuilding to clients because of the rigorous lifestyle that comes with it, she thought Bourdeau could not only handle it, but that he would gain a lot personally from the training and competing as well.

“I was just trying to give him the opportunity to see in himself what we all already saw,” she said. “(I wanted him) to know that he could get out there and own the stage a little bit (because) he’s an aspiring actor. I thought that if he could get out there and achieve something that I knew he was capable of, he would really believe it.”
Bourdeau jumped into the tough lifestyle head on and not only allows Carpenter to dictate every workout, bite of food and ounce of water he consumes when preparing for competition, he does his own research and continually pushes himself to be better as well.
“Hard is my name, my game and my middle name,” Bourdeau said. “I like to do hard challenges, I like to take on opportunities that will push me.”
Bourdeau’s grandfather, John Minard, said Bourdeau shows a remarkable amount of drive and self-control, saying he can go as far to eat only two pieces of his favorite food, pizza, once a month. Minard said bodybuilding not only gives Bourdeau confidence, but it’s given him a realization that he can take control of his own life.
“It’s given him the will to accomplish more in his life,” Minard said. “He realizes now that he can overcome his autism.”
Those feelings of independence, accomplishment and confidence are just what Carpenter hopes to instill in her clients, and she’s happy to know that physical fitness has meant just as much for Bourdeau personally as it has physically.
“It’s really been a privilege to work with him and to know that people are taking notice of what he’s doing,” she said. “I think he truly inspires people. He has been an inspiration to me and everyone who comes in that gym.”