The diaphragm is a voluntarily controlled skeletal muscle that dictates breathing rate along with intercostal muscles.

“The diaphragm is a muscle, it's kind of shaped like a dome. So it's kind of a, you know, think about a basketball or a soccer ball that has most of the air pushed out of it. And so it's kind of crescent shape or dome shaped, and it sits below our lungs and the way the diaphragm and the lungs work together is very interesting. The diaphragm is actually skeletal muscles. So it's just like a bicep or a quadricep.”

“And the fact that it is skeletal muscle is important because it has a unique property, which is that you can control it voluntarily. You can decide to take control of your diaphragm by just consciously deciding you want to breathe in a particular way, just like you can take conscious control over your legs.”

“The diaphragm is a muscle and it sits below our lungs. And the way the diaphragm and the lungs work together is very interesting. The diaphragm is actually skeletal muscle. So it's just like a bicep or a quadricep. And the fact that it is skeletal muscle is important because it has a unique property which is that you can control it voluntarily. How the diaphragm moves up and down determines how you breathe. How you breathe is also dependent on little muscles that are between your ribs, uh the intercostals and other muscles.”