We breath the through the lungs. The air goes in and out of our lungs. So why is it that most of the time it’s our stomach that inflates rather than the chest?
In: Biology
Your stomach doesn’t inflate. Your lungs inflate and expand your chest. It might look like a person’s stomach or a larger area of their body expands with each breath but in reality it’s just the chest.
Your body can expand the lungs 2 ways, the ribs can stretch out to expand your chest, or the diaphragm under the lungs can expand into your gut which pushes your gut outward. You have probably been breathing with your diaphragm.
[removed]
Your ribs actually have a duel role. One is to protect your lungs and heart. The other is to keep your lungs from expanding too much. Lungs can inflate to a huge capacity if left uncontained. You’d look like a toad with its throat stretched out. So, instead of going forward, your lungs mostly go downwards pushing on your organs hence the stomach bulging when you breath
Your diaphragm, a big, flat muscle located under your lungs, pulls down to create a void in your lungs. Air then fills that void which is you “breathing in.” When your diaphragm pulls down, it runs into your stomach, liver, etc. Those bois have to move down/out/backwards to make room for the diaphragm to lower. That’s why your stomach might look like it’s filling with air, when really it’s just moving out of the way for your lungs to fill with air.
Have you ever chewed gum and blew a bubble in reverse? Or in other words sucked in so a bubble formed in your mouth (allows for some awesome loud snaps). That’s essentially what’s happening in your stomach. A big muscle called your diaphragm with the assistance of other muscles expands the space your lungs can fill into( which is similar to you inhaling to reverse the gum bubble). This creates a vacuum to suck air into your lungs.
Latest Answers