I have torn my left ACL twice, 14 years apart. The first time I had it repaired with a patella tendon graft (painful, I don't recommend it). 2nd time was an allograft. I was also lucky like you and never tore cartilage.
The patella tendon graft makes it hurt to do any deceleration, walking down stairs / downhill, that sort of thing. I was able to do light jogging after several months but it was nearly a year before I was back to full activity. And to this day I still don't have full flexion - can't sit on my knees unless I stretch out a lot first.
The allograft was much easier and didn't hurt much at all. You will feel like you want to push your recovery PT, but as mentioned above, *listen to your physical therapist*. There is a stage in the recovery where the graft is somewhat vulnerable, so you want to be careful not to re-tear it.
The good news is you will recover faster because your cartilage is not damaged. What to expect? Well, for me, they wanted to get me weight-bearing ASAP after the surgery. From there, I did some exercises to work on extension - basically laying face down with my leg off the end of a bench or couch. And exercises to work on flexion, which included stationary bike. You raise the saddle until you can make a full rotation, then work on that a bit, then lower the saddle, repeat.
Once you get that flexibility back you can get to more normal (indoor) cycling and the PT will tell you when you can start jogging. They'll have other exercises for you to do, just make sure you stay on target with them
Edit: I would say swimming is good anytime leading up to the surgery. After the surgery, whenever the stitches are removed and the PT gives you the green light. Just stay away from breaststroke kick.
The patella tendon graft makes it hurt to do any deceleration, walking down stairs / downhill, that sort of thing. I was able to do light jogging after several months but it was nearly a year before I was back to full activity. And to this day I still don't have full flexion - can't sit on my knees unless I stretch out a lot first.
The allograft was much easier and didn't hurt much at all. You will feel like you want to push your recovery PT, but as mentioned above, *listen to your physical therapist*. There is a stage in the recovery where the graft is somewhat vulnerable, so you want to be careful not to re-tear it.
The good news is you will recover faster because your cartilage is not damaged. What to expect? Well, for me, they wanted to get me weight-bearing ASAP after the surgery. From there, I did some exercises to work on extension - basically laying face down with my leg off the end of a bench or couch. And exercises to work on flexion, which included stationary bike. You raise the saddle until you can make a full rotation, then work on that a bit, then lower the saddle, repeat.
Once you get that flexibility back you can get to more normal (indoor) cycling and the PT will tell you when you can start jogging. They'll have other exercises for you to do, just make sure you stay on target with them
Edit: I would say swimming is good anytime leading up to the surgery. After the surgery, whenever the stitches are removed and the PT gives you the green light. Just stay away from breaststroke kick.