Thanks for the clarification.
There are two schools of thought and they both have merits. Some would say to take off everything that isn't a main cola and some would say leave it all. I fall somewhere in the middle. When I defoliate (usually 2x per grow, one at the flip, one a few weeks later) on the first round, I remove leaves that are in shadow and aren't getting light. On the second round, I do that again as well as removing branches that won't reach the canopy (do this defol once the flowering stretch is done so you know what will and won't reach the top). The last time I manifolded, on my second round, I removed everything below the 4th or 5th node below the main cola. This was just roughly where the light was able to penetrate through the canopy to.
So, it's up to you. If you keep them, you likely won't get much bud off of them and what you do get might be larfy. If you trim them off (lollipop them) then the plant focuses energy on the buds that do get lots of light and air. However (your plants look happy and healthy so this doesn't apply here) if a plant is having any stress like a nutrient deficiency, pests, etc and isn't growing strong and vigorously, trimming less may be better to avoid further stressing it.