The vastus medialis or VMO is the tear-drop shaped muscle on the inside of the knee. Unless specifically targeted in training, it commonly falls behind in strength compared to the well-developed lateral (outside) muscles.
This exercise will keep the VMO from lagging behind. It's something all athletes should be doing at some point during their workouts. Not doing so leaves them vulnerable to knee problems and future injury, like ACL tears.
If you want to build huge muscles, you must continually challenge them by placing a greater demand upon them. If you stick with the same stress level month after month, you'll quickly reach a point where your body is used to the stress and won't need to adapt (i.e. grow) anymore.
You've seen his name on a lot of recent T-Nation articles, and you've seen him pass out some outstanding training advice on the forum. And you've probably thought, "Man, that guy is smart, but who is he anyway?"