I wouldn't defoliate unless the plant is really compact and there is no fan blowing directly to stir the air. Then it makes sense cause without circulating air, growth is stalled.
Now I trim only some bottom side branches(e.g. side shoots of side shoots you LSTed). I leave the fan leaves.
Sometimes if I go for more than 4 main tops, i.e. 11. then usually when I flip to flower I see that 1-3 are falling far behind. they get in the shade, they have little nodes and very long internodes and thin stems, they bring you no good. Fuck it, I just prune those. better 8 simultaneously growing tops than 11 messed up.
Some plants are budding from 1st node to the last, some really abandon lower ones, so it's difficult to define the rule of thumb. For me it's easy to make a call, if side shoot is growing - let it be, if it's looking immature and growth is stalled, prune it.
I leave the fan leaves for one very practical reason. Plant shows macro element deficiencies from bottom up. That means if you will be underfeeding, or if you will keep the soil too dry, or too wet, or make some other user error, it is those fan leaves you will lose first and will have extra time to fix stuff.