That's Elliot Darden of Jones/Nautilus fame, and long time writer for the exercise business. No that type of development isn't common, and training for it fell out of favor 30 + years ago. For some reason, he fell in love with rib box expansion training, and that was his claim to fame for many years.
It was some what common in the 1940's - 70's, but Darden's was an extreme case. It won't work for the old as the rib cartilage has hardened and lost much of its elastic ability at adapt. Also a lot of that training was really posture correcting, as it caused many to walk in a more upright position giving the illusion of a bigger rib cage due to opposing muscle strengthening.
