Kathmandu, Sept. 8 -- Bikin Joshi steps onto the stage of the Asian Powerlifting Championship calm and ready. He bends over to touch the floor with his hand and then takes it to his head as a mark of respect to the platform. He outstretched his hands and looked up into the heavens-his signature gesture.

"This is a world record attempt for Bikin Joshi," announces Sukadev Karki, the founder of Nepal Youth Fitness and Calisthenics (NYFC), which partnered with World Powerlifting to organise the event in Kathmandu from August 15 to 17. "169 kg! Come on guys, give it up, give it up for Bikin."

The crowd erupts, but by then, Joshi has already entered "the zone", as he puts it, a flow state where he hears nothing and sees nothing, except for th...