Free · No sign-up · iPhone, Android & desktop
Free Japanese Interval Walking Timer
A timer for the Japanese walking method from Shinshu University: 3 minutes slow, 3 minutes brisk, repeated for 30 minutes. Set your intervals, press start, and let the chimes tell you when to switch.
5 rounds · 30 min
Ready
03:00
Starts with a slow walk. Chimes tell you when to switch.
Putting your phone away? The screen goes black and ignores taps. Timer and chimes keep going. Slide to unlock.
5 Rounds × (3 min Slow + 3 min Brisk) = 30 min
Chime Sounds
Different chimes for slow, brisk and finish.
Vibration
Different buzz patterns on supported phones.
Keep this tab open and don't lock your phone, or the timer pauses.
Putting the phone away? Use Pocket Lock.
Want to actually lock the screen? Get the free Android app.
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How it works
The Japanese 3x3 interval walking routine: 30 minutes, no gym
01
Walk slowly for 3 minutes
An easy, relaxed pace. You can chat comfortably. This is your recovery.
02
Walk briskly for 3 minutes
Pick up the pace until it feels somewhat hard. You can talk, but not sing.
03
Repeat 5 times
Five slow + brisk rounds is 30 minutes. Aim for 4 or more days a week.
Full guide: The Japanese walking method, step by step →
Pace guide
Japanese walking speed: how fast is slow, and how fast is brisk?
Speed doesn't matter; effort does. A brisk walk for one person is a slow walk for another. Use these cues instead of a number.
Slow walk
About 40% effort
- Talk test: you could hold a full conversation or sing along.
- Breathing: relaxed, through your nose if you like.
- Feels like: 3–4 out of 10. A stroll, not a stop.
Brisk walk
About 70% effort
- Talk test: short sentences only. You couldn't sing.
- Breathing: noticeably harder, a light sweat after a few rounds.
- Feels like: 6–7 out of 10, "somewhat hard". Long strides, swing your arms.
The research
Japanese interval walking benefits, backed by a 5-month study
In a Shinshu University trial of 246 adults with an average age of 63, the interval walking group improved more than people who walked continuously at a moderate pace, and their resting systolic blood pressure fell further.
+13%
knee extension strength
+17%
knee flexion strength
+9%
peak walking fitness
5 mo
of IWT, 4+ days a week
Source: Nemoto et al., 2007, Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Results are averages from one study group; yours may differ. Read the full research summary →
Why this timer
A Japanese walking timer built for walking, not staring at a screen
Your intervals, your way
Set slow and brisk walks from 30 seconds to 30 minutes and do 1 to 20 rounds. The total updates as you type.
Three distinct chimes
A soft falling chime to slow down, a bright rising chime to speed up, and a finishing chime. No need to look at the screen.
Vibration on Android
Separate buzz patterns for slow, brisk and finish, for noisy streets or when you are listening to music.
Screen stays on
The timer keeps your screen awake during a walk and stays accurate even if you switch tabs.
Pause, skip and reset
Stopped at a crossing? Pause. Want to cut an interval short? Skip. Everything is one tap away.
Private and free
No account, no sign-up, nothing to install. Your settings stay in your own browser.
About the timer
The free Japanese interval walking timer, explained
This page is a free Japanese interval walking timer built for one job: guiding you through the Japanese walking method without making you watch a clock. Japanese walking, known in research asinterval walking training (IWT), alternates 3 minutes of slow walking with 3 minutes of brisk walking. Five rounds make a 30-minute workout. The timer counts down every interval, plays a different sound alert at each switch and tells you when you are done, so you can keep your eyes on the path and your mind on your walk.
What is the Japanese walking method?
The Japanese walking method was developed by Professor Hiroshi Nose and colleagues at Shinshu University in Matsumoto, Japan. They wanted a way for middle-aged and older adults to get the benefits of harder exercise without a gym. The answer was simple: walk slowly for 3 minutes at about 40% of your peak effort, then briskly for 3 minutes at about 70%, and repeat. In a 5-month study of 246 adults, the interval walking group gained more leg strength and walking fitness than people who walked continuously at a moderate pace, and their blood pressure fell further. Because of its 3-minute blocks, it is often called theJapanese 3x3 interval walking method. You can read the details in oursummary of the Japanese interval walking studies.
How to use this Japanese walking timer
- Set your intervals. The default is the classic routine: a 3-minute slow walk, a 3-minute brisk walk and 5 rounds. Each interval can be anything from 30 seconds to 30 minutes, and you can choose 1 to 20 rounds.
- Choose your cues. Turn on chime sounds, vibration (on Android) or both. Press Test to hear the alerts before you head out.
- Press Start and walk. A soft falling chime means slow down, a bright rising chime means speed up, and a final chime marks the end of your workout.
- Pause or skip when you need to. Waiting at a crossing? Pause. Want to end an interval early? Skip.
Why use a timer for Japanese interval walking?
You can do Japanese interval walking with a stopwatch, but it is easy to lose count after the third or fourth switch, especially when you are breathing hard. A dedicated interval walking timer removes the guesswork. Because each phase has its own sound, you never need to pull out your phone to check whether you should be walking slowly or briskly. It also keeps you honest: 3 minutes of brisk walking is long enough that many people ease off early without noticing. The countdown and progress bar show exactly how much is left in the current interval and in the whole session.
Japanese walking for beginners
If you are new to exercise, start smaller. Try 3 rounds (18 minutes), or shorten the brisk walks to 1 or 2 minutes while keeping the slow walks at 3. Add a round each week until you reach 5 rounds, or 30 minutes, on four or more days a week. That is the schedule used in the original Japanese interval walking research. Our4-week Japanese walking plan for beginners lays out the full routine week by week. Remember that effort matters more than speed: brisk should feel "somewhat hard", and you should only be able to talk in short sentences.
Outdoors, indoors or on a treadmill
The timer works anywhere you can walk. Outdoors, put your headphones in and let the alerts guide you. For Japanese walking on a treadmill, pick a slow speed that feels easy and a brisk speed or incline that feels somewhat hard, then change the setting when the chime plays. There is no single correct treadmill speed for the Japanese walking method, because the right pace depends on your fitness. Choose by effort, not by the number on the display. Adding incline is a good way to raise the effort without breaking into a jog.
Works on iPhone, Android and desktop
This is a web app, so there is nothing to download and no sign-up. It runs in Safari on iPhone and iPad, Chrome on Android and any modern desktop browser. On Android, the walking timer adds separate vibration patterns for slow, brisk and finish, which helps on noisy streets or when you are listening to music and podcasts. Safari does not let websites vibrate an iPhone, so on iOS the timer relies on its sound alerts. Turn up your media volume and check that the silent switch is not muting them.
Keeping the timer running during your walk
Phones pause web pages when the screen is locked, so the timer keeps your screen awake while a walk is running and corrects itself if you switch tabs. To carry your phone in a pocket, use Pocket lock: it turns the screen black and ignores taps while the timer and alerts keep going. If you need an interval walking app that works in the background with the screen fully locked, get our free Japanese walking app for Android.
Free, private and with no subscription
Every feature of this Japanese walking timer is free. There is no account, no sign-up and no subscription, and your settings are saved only in your own browser. Some interval walking apps put custom intervals behind a paywall or ask you to create an account before your first walk. This one opens straight to the timer.
What makes a good Japanese interval walking timer?
If you are comparing Japanese walking timer apps, these are the features worth looking for:
- Distinct alerts for slow and brisk walking, so you can tell them apart without looking.
- Adjustable intervals and rounds, so the timer grows with you from beginner to the full 30 minutes.
- Vibration for loud places and for walking with music.
- Reliable timing that does not drift if you glance at another app.
- No sign-up, so you can start walking in seconds.
We built this free Japanese interval walking timer to tick every one of those boxes. Set your intervals at thetop of the page, press Start and enjoy your walk.
FAQ
Common questions
What is Japanese interval walking?
Japanese interval walking, often just called Japanese walking or interval walking training (IWT), is a walking workout where you alternate 3 minutes of slow walking with 3 minutes of brisk walking, usually for 5 rounds (30 minutes). The method was developed by Professor Hiroshi Nose and colleagues at Shinshu University in Japan, who found it builds more fitness and leg strength than walking at one steady pace.
How do you do Japanese interval walking?
Start with 3 minutes of slow, easy walking, then walk briskly for 3 minutes at a pace that feels "somewhat hard". Keep switching every 3 minutes until you have done 5 slow and 5 brisk intervals (30 minutes in total), on at least 4 days a week. A timer with distinct alerts, like the free one on this site, tells you when to switch so you don't have to watch the clock. Our step-by-step guide includes a 4-week beginner plan.
How fast is a "brisk" walk?
Brisk walking in the research was about 70% of each person's peak walking capacity. In practice that feels "somewhat hard": you are breathing harder and can talk in short sentences, but you could not sing. Slow walking (about 40%) should feel easy enough to hold a full conversation.
Does the Japanese walking method really work?
Yes, it is backed by research. In the original 5-month study of middle-aged and older adults, people who did interval walking increased their thigh strength by 13 to 17% and their aerobic fitness by about 8 to 9%, and their blood pressure fell more than in a group that walked at a steady moderate pace. Larger follow-up studies and a trial in people with type 2 diabetes found similar benefits. See the science behind Japanese walking for details.
What is the best app for Japanese walking?
Look for an interval walking app with different alerts for slow and brisk walking, adjustable intervals, vibration and no sign-up. This site's free Japanese walking timer has all of those and runs in any browser on iPhone, Android or desktop. On Android, our free Japanese walking app also works with the screen fully locked.
How do I use this timer?
Set the slow walk length, brisk walk length and number of rounds (the defaults are 3 min, 3 min and 5 rounds = 30 minutes), then press Start. A soft chime marks each slow walk, a bright chime marks each brisk walk, and a final chime plays when you finish. On Android phones you can also turn on vibration.
Can I use the timer with my phone in my pocket?
Yes, with Pocket lock. After you press Start on a phone, a Pocket lock button appears under the timer. It turns the screen black and ignores taps, so nothing gets pressed by accident, while the timer and chimes keep going. The phase and time stay visible in large text if you take a look. To get back, slide the button at the bottom all the way to the right. Use Pocket lock instead of your phone's power button, because locking the phone pauses the web page.
Does the timer work with my phone screen locked?
Mostly no. Browsers pause web pages when a phone is locked, so chimes can be late or missing. This timer keeps your screen on while a walk is running (on supported browsers) and always shows the correct time when you come back. To carry your phone in a pocket, use Pocket lock instead of the power button. If you want cues with the screen truly locked, use our free Android app.
Ready for your first 30 minutes?
3 minutes slow, 3 minutes brisk, 5 times. The timer handles the switching.