Here's a diagram of how it works, and I'll try to explain it to the best of my understanding:
So in the diagram you can see one of the lamps is in series with a capacitor while the other isn't. I believe the capacitor makes it so that one lamp's strobing is slightly behind the other, hence where the term "lag" comes from. From what I have found based on some research, the reason for this is that it reduces the overall noticeable 120hz strobe of the two lamps, compared to if they were both in perfect sync.