diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 763c359..693b7f4 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     <guava.version>33.4.0-jre</guava.version>
     <jgroups.version>5.4.1.Final</jgroups.version>
     <jgroups-kubernetes.version>2.0.2.Final</jgroups-kubernetes.version>
+    <threeten-extra.version>1.8.0</threeten-extra.version>
     <junit.jupiter.version>5.11.4</junit.jupiter.version>
     <assertj.version>3.27.3</assertj.version>
     <spotless.check.skip>true</spotless.check.skip>
@@ -161,6 +162,12 @@
       <version>${jgroups-kubernetes.version}</version>
     </dependency>
 
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.threeten</groupId>
+      <artifactId>threeten-extra</artifactId>
+      <version>${threeten-extra.version}</version>
+    </dependency>
+
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
       <artifactId>junit-jupiter-engine</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Converters.java b/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Converters.java
index ce815b8..b6ef0db 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Converters.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Converters.java
@@ -35,10 +35,14 @@
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
 import javax.net.ssl.SNIHostName;
 import javax.net.ssl.SNIServerName;
+import org.threeten.extra.AmountFormats;
 import picocli.CommandLine;
 
 final class Converters {
 
+  private static final CommandLine.ITypeConverter<Duration> DURATION_TYPE_CONVERTER =
+      new DurationTypeConverter();
+
   private Converters() {}
 
   static void typeConversionException(String message) {
@@ -290,17 +294,48 @@ static class DurationTypeConverter implements CommandLine.ITypeConverter<Duratio
 
     @Override
     public Duration convert(String value) {
+      Duration duration = null;
       try {
-        Duration duration = Duration.parse(value);
-        if (duration.isNegative() || duration.isZero()) {
+        duration = AmountFormats.parseUnitBasedDuration(value);
+      } catch (DateTimeParseException e) {
+
+      }
+      if (duration == null) {
+        try {
+          duration = Duration.parse(value);
+        } catch (DateTimeParseException e) {
           throw new CommandLine.TypeConversionException(
-              "'" + value + "' is not valid, it must be positive");
+              "'" + value + "' is not valid, valid example values: PT15M, PT10H");
         }
-        return duration;
-      } catch (DateTimeParseException e) {
+      }
+      return duration;
+    }
+  }
+
+  static class PositiveDurationTypeConverter implements CommandLine.ITypeConverter<Duration> {
+
+    @Override
+    public Duration convert(String value) throws Exception {
+      Duration duration = DURATION_TYPE_CONVERTER.convert(value);
+      if (duration.isNegative() || duration.isZero()) {
+        throw new CommandLine.TypeConversionException(
+            "'" + value + "' is not valid, it must be positive");
+      }
+      return duration;
+    }
+  }
+
+  static class GreaterThanOrEqualToZeroDurationTypeConverter
+      implements CommandLine.ITypeConverter<Duration> {
+
+    @Override
+    public Duration convert(String value) throws Exception {
+      Duration duration = DURATION_TYPE_CONVERTER.convert(value);
+      if (duration.isNegative()) {
         throw new CommandLine.TypeConversionException(
-            "'" + value + "' is not valid, valid example values: PT15M, PT10H");
+            "'" + value + "' is not valid, it must be greater than or equal to 0");
       }
+      return duration;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/StreamPerfTest.java b/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/StreamPerfTest.java
index eaacaad..d9f78f5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/StreamPerfTest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/StreamPerfTest.java
@@ -235,9 +235,10 @@ public class StreamPerfTest implements Callable<Integer> {
   @CommandLine.Option(
       names = {"--max-age", "-ma"},
       description =
-          "max age of segments using the ISO 8601 duration format, "
-              + "e.g. PT10M30S for 10 minutes 30 seconds, P5DT8H for 5 days 8 hours.",
-      converter = Converters.DurationTypeConverter.class)
+          "max age of segments using Golang parseDuration syntax or the ISO 8601 duration format, "
+              + "e.g. 10m30s for 10 minutes 30 seconds (d, w, y not supported) or "
+              + "PT10M30S for 10 minutes 30 seconds, P5DT8H for 5 days 8 hours.",
+      converter = Converters.PositiveDurationTypeConverter.class)
   private Duration maxAge;
 
   @CommandLine.Option(
@@ -556,6 +557,15 @@ static class InstanceSyncOptions {
       defaultValue = "true")
   private boolean tcpNoDelay;
 
+  @CommandLine.Option(
+      names = {"--consumer-latency", "-L"},
+      description =
+          "consumer latency using Golang parseDuration syntax, "
+              + "e.g. 5 ms (d, w, y are not supported)",
+      converter = Converters.GreaterThanOrEqualToZeroDurationTypeConverter.class,
+      defaultValue = "0")
+  private Duration consumerLatency;
+
   private MetricsCollector metricsCollector;
   private PerformanceMetrics performanceMetrics;
   private List<Monitoring> monitorings;
@@ -1124,6 +1134,7 @@ public Integer call() throws Exception {
                                   .builder();
                         }
 
+                        Runnable latencyWorker = Utils.latencyWorker(this.consumerLatency);
                         consumerBuilder =
                             consumerBuilder.messageHandler(
                                 (context, message) -> {
@@ -1137,12 +1148,12 @@ public Integer call() throws Exception {
                                     // tool
                                   }
                                   metrics.offset(context.offset());
+                                  latencyWorker.run();
                                 });
 
                         consumerBuilder = maybeConfigureForFiltering(consumerBuilder);
 
-                        Consumer consumer = consumerBuilder.build();
-                        return consumer;
+                        return consumerBuilder.build();
                       })
                   .collect(Collectors.toList()));
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Utils.java b/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Utils.java
index a0fe3c5..683492e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Utils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/Utils.java
@@ -481,4 +481,30 @@ static int filteringSubSetSize(int setSize) {
       return setSize - 3;
     }
   }
+
+  static Runnable latencyWorker(Duration latency) {
+    if (latency.isZero()) {
+      return () -> {};
+    } else if (latency.toMillis() >= 1) {
+      long latencyInMs = latency.toMillis();
+      return () -> latencySleep(latencyInMs);
+    } else {
+      long latencyInNs = latency.toNanos();
+      return () -> latencyBusyWait(latencyInNs);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static void latencySleep(long delayInMs) {
+    try {
+      Thread.sleep(delayInMs);
+    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+      Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static void latencyBusyWait(long delayInNs) {
+    long start = System.nanoTime();
+    while (System.nanoTime() - start < delayInNs)
+      ;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/ConvertersTest.java b/src/test/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/ConvertersTest.java
index 6f312b5..5f41363 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/ConvertersTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/rabbitmq/stream/perf/ConvertersTest.java
@@ -207,6 +207,24 @@ void sniServerNamesConverter() {
         .contains(new SNIHostName("dummy"));
   }
 
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @CsvSource({"50ms,50", "0,0", "1s,1000", "10m30s,630000", "PT1M30S,90000"})
+  void durationTypeConverterOk(String value, long expectedInMs) {
+    Converters.DurationTypeConverter converter = new Converters.DurationTypeConverter();
+    Duration duration = converter.convert(value);
+    assertThat(duration).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(duration).isEqualTo(Duration.ofMillis(expectedInMs));
+  }
+
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @ValueSource(strings = {"1", "abc", "1.5"})
+  void durationTypeConverterKo(String value) {
+    Converters.DurationTypeConverter converter = new Converters.DurationTypeConverter();
+    assertThatThrownBy(() -> converter.convert(value))
+        .isInstanceOf(CommandLine.TypeConversionException.class)
+        .hasMessageContaining("valid");
+  }
+
   private static Tag tag(String key, String value) {
     return Tag.of(key, value);
   }