The diaphragm separates the abdominal cavity from the chest cavity. Pulling the diaphragm down (it’s a muscle) pushes out the abdomen (stomach) and increases the size of the chest cavity, filling the lungs with air. The other way to breath in is to use the muscles between the ribs (intercostal muscles) to increase the size of the rib cage and thus the size of the chest cavity and the volume of lungs.
All your bits inside your torso take up a specific amount of space. When you take a breath your lungs are expanding because a muscle below your lungs, the diaphragm, pulls them downward. Toward your stomach. Which pushes your stomach out of the way because there’s only so much space. Fortunately, your belly (and your ribs to a lesser extent) can expand to accommodate all this pushing and pulling as you breathe.
The diaphragm separates the abdominal cavity from the chest cavity. Pulling the diaphragm down (it’s a muscle) pushes out the abdomen (stomach) and increases the size of the chest cavity, filling the lungs with air. The other way to breath in is to use the muscles between the ribs (intercostal muscles) to increase the size of the rib cage and thus the size of the chest cavity and the volume of lungs.
All your bits inside your torso take up a specific amount of space. When you take a breath your lungs are expanding because a muscle below your lungs, the diaphragm, pulls them downward. Toward your stomach. Which pushes your stomach out of the way because there’s only so much space. Fortunately, your belly (and your ribs to a lesser extent) can expand to accommodate all this pushing and pulling as you breathe.
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