Stephen Cheung, PhD, is a professor of kinesiology and senior research fellow at Brock University, where his research focuses on the effects of environmental stress on human physiology and performance. He held a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Ergonomics from 2007 to 2017.

Cheung has authored more than 120 articles that explore muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, neural, metabolic, cognitive, and performance responses to multiple environments, including heat, cold, hydration, and altitude. He has worked extensively with industry and sport organizations to improve health and safety in the workplace, athletic performance, and equipment design. Cheung is also a leader in driving scientific advances in cycling physiology and performance and has published two books on the science of cycling: Cutting-Edge Cycling and Cycling Science.

Philip Ainslie, PhD, is a professor of health and exercise sciences and is the Canada Research Chair and codirector of the Centre for Heart, Lung and Vascular Health at the University of British Columbia in Okanagan.

Ainslie has published more than 300 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has recently coauthored the sixth edition of the textbook High-Altitude Medicine and Physiology. In addition to mechanistic laboratory-based experiments, he leads regular field expeditions to study elite free divers as well as expeditions to high altitude to study acclimatization and adaptation, with a focus on indigenous populations located in the mountainous regions of Tibet, South America, and Ethiopia. Ainslie has won numerous national and international awards for his research and sits on various international scientific leadership and advisory groups; he also currently co-organizes a number of international conferences related to environmental physiology.

Chapter 1. Fundamentals of Temperature Regulation
Heat Balance Equation
Models of Thermoregulatory Control
Thermal Stress Scales
Summary

Chapter 2. Heat Stress
The Problem With Heat
Mechanisms of Hyperthermia
Thermal Perception and Exercise
Individual Variability
Cooling Strategies
Summary

Chapter 3. Heat Adaptation
Heat Adaptation
Heat Therapy
Summary

Chapter 4. Hydration Strategies for Exercise
Hydration Terminology
Impact of Fluid Balance on Performance
Developing a Hydration Strategy
Hydration Strategies Following Exercise
Summary

Chapter 5. Cold Air Exposure
Hypothermia
Physiological Responses to Cold Exposure
Exercise in the Cold
Cold Injuries to the Extremities
Thermal Response in the Extremities
Summary

Chapter 6. Cold Water Immersion
Phase 1 Immersion and Cold Shock
Phase 2 Muscle Failure
Phase 3 Hypothermia
Phase 4 Postrescue Collapse
Summary

Chapter 7. Breath-Hold Diving
Gas Laws
Disciplines of Apnea Diving
Static Apnea
Dynamic Apnea
Depth
Training Apnea Diving
Indigenous Diving Populations
Medical Consequences of Apnea Diving
Summary

Chapter 8. Diving and Hyperbaric Physiology
Physics of Diving
Diving Systems
Decompression Sickness
Inert Gas Narcosis
Saturation Diving
Summary

Chapter 9. Physiological Adjustments to Acute Hypoxia
Normoxia and Hypoxia
Physiological Consequences of Exposure to Acute Hypoxia
Neurological Effects of Acute Hypoxia
Fatigue and Hypoxia
Clinical Consequences of Acute Hypoxia
Summary

Chapter 10. High-Altitude Physiology
Acclimatization
High Altitude and the Oxygen Cascade
Cardiovascular Response
High-Altitude Illnesses
Hemoglobin and Oxygen Transport
American Medical Research Expedition to Everest
Metabolism and Body Composition
Adaptation to High Altitude
Summary

Chapter 11. Altitude Training and Performance
Living-Training Hypoxic Models
Genetic Basis of Altitude Performance
Hyperoxia
Considerations in Applying Altitude Training
Summary

Chapter 12. Microgravity and Spaceflight
Physiological Responses to Microgravity
Microgravity Simulations
Spaceflight Countermeasures
Extravehicular Activity Physiology
Spacesuit Design
Summary

Chapter 13. Exercise in Polluted Environments
Major Pollutants
Air Quality Indices
Pollution Effects on Exercise
Managing Air Pollution for Athletes
Summary

Chapter 14. Chronobiology
Nomenclature
Circadian Rhythms and the Sleep–Wake Cycle
Sleep
Sleep Deprivation
Transmeridian Travel Fatigue and Jet Lag
Summary

Chapter 15. Cross-Adaptation
Nomenclature
Cold and Hypoxia Cross-Acclimatization
Heat and Hypoxia Cross-Acclimatization
Other Cross-Adaptation Themes
Summary

Chapter 16. Individual Variability: Sex and Age
Sex Differences in Thermoregulation
Sex Differences in High-Altitude Physiology
Children
Aging
Aerobic Fitness
Summary