I'm not tall, plus have a collection of old shoulder injuries. Here is how I would lift the top on my '97/penthouse:
1) All doors and windows closed, engine running, HVAC blower (dash) on high. That gives quite a boost!
2) Lie on gaucho (aisle plan with gaucho behind driver's seat) and push up on lift handle area with shoed feet (I guess this is taking "lift with your legs" literally
).
I also did it a few times by standing on a toolbox, bending my head forward and sort of grunting it up with my shoulders, but that always seemed like a good way to hurt my neck.
One last thing you could do is add blocks to the helper springs. These are the springs that help it "start" to lift (vs. the lift springs, which keep the top up). They lie completely uncompressed and accessible when the top is up, so this is easy to do and does not involve come-alongs or tension. What you do is pull aside the fabric on the rear section of each side (a few feet forward of the very rear though). You'll see the springs running aft from an opening and you can just reach in and pull them out/up/forward (may have to bend them a bit to get them started, but they come right out). Then cut some small blocks (around 2" x 2" square and then 1" thick or 3/4" thick or 1/2" thick or 1/4" thick. Slide these "upright" into the area where the springs were and slide them all the way back (is around 12-14" back). Keeping them upright, put the springs back. What you are aiming for is as much "help" as possible, but the sign of too much is that the top has a hard time finishing coming down or the arms look like they are bending at the end. I found that around 1" helped without hindering - but each top may be different.
(The helper springs compress when the top is down, so they "help" because they are trying to un-compress as you start to lift the top. That's why you have to try a few different thicknesses of blocks, because too much "help" means they can't compress enough when the top is all the way down. It's fairly obvious once you try it.)