*I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. I am just talking about my experience. I don’t recommend anyone do what I do.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about if you can safely squat with a torn ACL. I read in Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe:
With strong hamstrings and the knees-back position provided by the low-bar version of the squat, the hips bear most of the stress of the movement. So athletes who are missing an ACL can safely squat heavy weights because the ACL is under no stress in a correctly performed full squat.
So I decided to experiment for myself. After I tore my ACL on Sept 24 of this year I started squatting just the bar. Every workout I would add 5-15lbs.
Today I squatted 265lb for 3×5 and deadlifted 295 1×5. It felt great. I feel no pain in my knee when I squat. I also make sure I put an even amount of weight on both legs.
I do not favor the injured side!
My left leg is already a bit bigger than my right. So I make sure to use both legs evenly when I squat.
My surgery is on January 30 of this year. I plan to lift until close to the surgery date. I figure I am going to lose a bunch of muscle after the surgery so I want to add it now.