Difficulty getting on and off the bench

[bendy-legs]

I looked it up and could not find a post addressing this. I began coaching my friend who has a generous beer belly. He had trouble lying down on the bench but he could do it. But he looked like a turtle on it's back when he tried to get off of the bench, I lent him my hand. He could not touch the ground with his feet so I put some bumper plates under his feet like The barbell prescription recommends. The point is to get him stronger so that his mobility will improve but in the meantime any advice to preserve some of his dignity?

[Chiaki Nitya]

You gotta do the fat guy rock, when he's laying down have him swing his legs up in the air and then rock forward and use the momentum to get up.

[Greg Herman]

Try having him pull himself up by walking his hands down the side of his thighs until they reach the bottom of the hamstrings behind the knees, if he can grab there he might be able to hoist himself up a bit better. Otherwise, you'll just have to continue helping him up until he has dropped a fair amount of weight.

[AndrewLewis]

I looked it up and could not find a post addressing this. I began coaching my friend who has a generous beer belly. He had trouble lying down on the bench but he could do it. But he looked like a turtle on it's back when he tried to get off of the bench, I lent him my hand. He could not touch the ground with his feet so I put some bumper plates under his feet like The barbell prescription recommends. The point is to get him stronger so that his mobility will improve but in the meantime any advice to preserve some of his dignity?

How fat are we talking here?

Here, I made you a video

1) The leg rock
The most typical way is going to be to pick his legs up then use the momentum from his legs going down to pull his torso up, rotating about his hips.

2) The pin grab
If you have the pins set up, then he can pull on that. That's what one of my larger clients does.

3) The side roll
Get him on his side and have him use the pins to rock up laterally.

[bendy-legs]

How fat are we talking here?

Here, I made you a video

1) The leg rock
The most typical way is going to be to pick his legs up then use the momentum from his legs going down to pull his torso up, rotating about his hips.

2) The pin grab
If you have the pins set up, then he can pull on that. That's what one of my larger clients does.

3) The side roll
Get him on his side and have him use the pins to rock up laterally.

He's fat, he looks like an egg with arms and legs, this is good I'm going to try the pin idea, I think it might be the most graceful option available to him, he tried a side roll last time and it was really awkward. Thank you Andrew, and everybody else too.

[dalan]

Yes, the leg/fat guy rock is the way to go.