Need help gaining mass w/out losing my speed!

[Electric_Worry]

Ok so I played safety in high school at 5'9 160 (small i know but I hit hard, I'm fast and I had a good vertical) I am now 21 and am enrolling at a community college this summer because my old coach is the Defensive Coordinator there and he said to bulk up and come out. I am now 6'1, problem is I'm still 160 lol. Does anybody know how I can bulk up to about 180 without losing too much speed? I'm in pretty good shape as I never stopped working out. I had a friend clock my 40 over this past weekend and my fastest run was 4.48. I think I can afford to lose a little speed but not much. Can anyone help? Thanks!

[skip9]

Do a lot of speed work within your running, intervals, 400m, 800m, etc with recovery in between, this makes your legs use the types of muscle fibres that are required for running faster. If you limit these sessions to about 30mins at once and have a good diet there is no reason you can't gain size and keep your speed.

[Fullback7]

Something I never understand from coaches is that if they see a guy who is just wrecking shop on everyone, but he weighs 20 pounds less than what they seem as ideal... Why the hell would they ask a kid to gain 20 pounds (which will most likely be **** weight), just so they look better on the roster stats? If you're seriously getting driven everywhere then I can understand it. However, if your weight isn't an issue then I don't see the problem. I mean sure you can't play at that weight at a big time school, or the NFL because I don't think anyone can.

First off, a 4.48 HT isn't something to write home about. I call it a fluff stat for two reasons. One, You most likely run in the mid 4.6's. I spent an intense 2 years training for a combine, and I always had 3 timers on my test days set up in different spots. I was also clocked by a former NFL coach, and a potential HOF player... For whatever that's worth. I hit the exact same time as you, to around a low 4.5. When I lined up for that ET, I was hitting around the 4.6's. Now for my weight it was good, but as a CB you really can't risk losing that speed. Now it's a little contradicting to follow that last sentence with this statement. The 40, doesn't mean much. I mean a lot of guys don't like testing 40's for performance on sport transfer, but I personally think that it shows a lot of improvements in some aspects. However, don't hold a large emphasis in it. I learned that the hard way. You almost never run like that in a game, or even practice. The most important thing is reaction, lateral movement, and acceleration.

To basically answer your question, the simplest way to minimize speed loss is to control fat gain during a bulk, increase strength ratios, and do a lot of things that you should have done while at 160. Such things as flexibility, simple running techniques (So many people have horrible skills out of reaction).

When people say that nutrition is 65% or more of your training they don't let. Your diet will easily break you if you taunt it with junk food. Now I'm sure that you have a fairly lean body, with a very ideal metabolism. So you aren't hindered by having to slice through 1,000's of foods to see what works. You can basically eat what's considered "clean" and come out with minimal onset adipose tissue gain. Now, because I told you this, it doesn't mean it's a free for all junk fest. If you're serious about this than your nutrition needs to be very "clean." I can't stress that enough.