Where is the air going when you breathe in using your stomach/diaphragm instead of your lungs/chest?

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Where is the air going when you breathe in using your stomach/diaphragm instead of your lungs/chest?

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

You always use your diaphragm to inhale!

But it is a hard muscle to visualize so we tell people to breathe like you’re trying to fill up your tummy first.

What you’re doing is making the pressure in your chest lower than the air outside so it rushes in. [I remember it being Bill, but fast forward to 09:55 to see a quick set up and visualization from an Episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy. ](https://youtu.be/aXkA5igrVSo)

To exhale your muscles push on your lungs making the pressure inside higher than outside making the air go out. Your lungs never get all of the air out without a trauma causing a “collapsed lung.”

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your lungs.

Air goes in the lungs. It goes into the lungs by the diaphragm moving down. This pulls air into the lungs

You may be taking a deeper breath when you visualize moving your diaphragm as opposed to normal breathing, but it’s the same thing, just done bigger, with a few more muscles added in.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The air all goes in your lungs.

For an adult the average amount you breathe when you’re resting is 400 to 600 mL (Tidal Volume)
If you want to take in an extra deep breath, say before you jump in a lake or blow up a balloon, you can reach 3 to 4 full liters of air taken in! (Vital Capacity)

When you take the extra big breaths you are using Accessory Muscles to aide your main breathing muscle, the diaphragm. Accessory Muscles are your ribs (intercostals) and to a lesser extent your neck & upper back muscles (sternocleidomastoid & scalene).
Your belly (abdominal) muscles can help forcing air out, but it normally is just passive relaxing of the diaphragm.

Source: I’m a Respiratory Therapist
Please feel free to google/wiki any of the parentheses words for more info!