Strength training - HIIT - what weight kettlebell?

[TheOrigRights]

I am not sure whether to get a 6 or 8kg kettlebell.

I have some experience with boot camp/HIIT/circuits etc.
6kg feel like work, 8kg feels like hard work.

I do strength training to improve my core, stability and tone.

I am mainly a runner, and also swim and cycle. I'm not a big person, but am quite strong for my size.

I will do 20 min workouts at home a few times a week.

Any tips?

I don’t know your budget but these are amazing.

torpedoeu.com/products/torpedo

You could have a 10kg one for swings, squats etc... and the single arm and overhead stuff you could carry on with your dumbbells.

To be fair you can still do swings and squats just with one dumbbell and it might be easier if the vinyl ones are a bit slippery

I bought a 7.5kg kettle bell in lockdown (although I used to use up to 14 with my personal trainer) and you'd be surprised how effective it was.

And then she was isolating last time we had a session so we did it online - since the first lockdown I've bought a 10kg weight too and I felt it the next day - it was effective!

When I go to her gym I use 12, 14 or 16 depending on what I am doing, so don't be persuaded that you have to do heavy to be effective - although if you are short on time and doing fewer reps then heavier is better. But I think if you are not being supervised it's better to go lighter, less likely to cause yourself an injury.

Decathlon might have decent ones if you or someone else reading this thread is (still) looking.

I like kettlebells instead of dumbbells because I have arthritis in some of my fingers, so I can hang the kb from my hand instead of gripping.
I know people have said don't go too big but I was surprised at how quickly I built strength with the bells. At one point I was swinging 30 kg and squatting a 24 kg. I wish I could get back to that!