I've been walking 4.5 miles a day, 5 days a week since Jan 2nd. As of today, I have lost ~53 pounds, gone from being pre-diabetic to normal levels, lost my entire wardrobe in the process, and finally my Vans died. They have been loyal a.f.
Glad they helped me on this journey to better health.
Rwcent research shows more padding is worse as it promotes weakness in all the muscles that should be supporting joints.
I'll see of I still have a link to the research, it's rather surprising.
Ergonomics is complicated, sometimes it can be hard to draw the line between what's a necessary support and what's an enabling crutch.
barefoot or minimal shoes require successfully adapting your foot strike, which is not something everyone does successfully or consistently. Even then, most ppl will want more toe box width than Vans provide, unless they have narrow feet.