An actual maltese hold is dangerous and unsuitable for a beginner lifter like OP. Unless you're working with an Olympics level gymnastic coach, there is no reason to even attempt such an exercise.
absolutely agreed 100%. That's why I never recommended the Maltese hold. A maltese isometric press (as we called it) is much different, and involves a spotter. I was never olympic level and I did them. We even had the 6-year-olds doing them.
isolate the muscle
That's not what a beginner should be doing. They should be focusing on the foundation of strength-building and hypertrophy inducing movements that can be progressively overloaded and recorded. Even if they did want to start trying these gymnast exercises, they should only be used as supplements to an existing routine. Squats, deadlifts, overhead press, rows, chins, etc. Those are the movements he should be doing to build a strong foundation before dabbling in maltese.
That said, if you enjoy those movements (and actually know how to do them properly) and don't care about making maximum progress, have at it.
It should have been pretty clear from my post what level of expertise I was targeting with my recommendations. On reflection, and especially given the OP's feedback, I suggested that some less-advanced strength training be done.
Now, what a beginner should or should not be doing is up to them: based on what their goals are. If you just want to train one muscle, you can do that. There are ways of starting safe, and stepping up to it.
When I did conditioning for gymnastics, we didn't use weights at all, except for towards the end, where we stuck 45-lb weights on our backs for push-ups. We never did conventional weight training. I've never done squats, dead-lifts, or any of that. Yet, I was able to gain some muscle doing the exercises that we did. Unlike training with weights, we didn't bulk up the same way: that wasn't the point. Instead we gained a very functional strength of moving our bodies.
I, and all the gymnasts I trained with, from recreational to elite, all of us started off on these exercises. Since my coach came up with them, and she is a physical therapist, they are all founded in her physical therapy exercises and knowledge of physiology.
If I need someone to pick up a barbell, I'll call someone who does weights, If I want someone to help me move furniture, or useful things like that, I know who to call instead.
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About the goals of all this: the OP mentioned training for physique. Now, such aesthetic ideals have changed with time (look up photos of "strong men" online), and research suggests that the "jacked" physique is less attractive to women (in general). It's a very personal aesthetic choice as to what physique you want to maintain, and an ideal I certainly wouldn't want to pressure someone in to. (just like I don't comment on a person's hair colour, or choice of facial hair: it's up to them). If the OP wants to build his physique in a certain way, he can do that. If he wants to get shoulders like that guy, there are ways to do that as well. I listed some exercises that will get him there, assuming he has a foundation, a spotter, some idea, etc. (and wants to only work out that area I guess..? I don't judge.)
Clearly if he wants help from me, he'll ask for it, then I can expound in more detail. But it looks like you are making a lot of assumptions right of the bat, ones that I would not, and would indeed wait until I know more.
I never did any weights, but my workouts as a gymnast were pretty tough.
I would say, the guy's got it right with the muscle ups on the rings. You can also practise back levers and maltese isometric presses. Those things are really good for you. After some time, try to work your way up to a planche or planche push ups.
If you're interested, I can give you some tips on those maltese isometric presses. There wasn't much info online when I did a search. My coach was a physical therapist, so she knew pretty much everything.
That said, you should forget shoulder / arm strength and just go for the core. That's the one muscle group that matters most.
I am definitely interested! I have been looking at incorporating other things in to my work out routine other than just straight weight lifting.
I recommend starting here:
http://www.drillsandskills.com/skills/condhttp://www.drillsandskills.com/skills/cond/upperhttp://www.drillsandskills.com/skills/cond/lowerhttp://www.drillsandskills.com/skills/cond/overallhttp://www.drillsandskills.com/skills/cond/maintI feel like there are a lot of thing you can do with your abdominals, obliques, and lower back muscles that don't involve normal weights. From sit-ups, crunches (much more difficult, if done properly), "shotguns", "v-ups" (jacknives), "superman holds" (don't do superman rocks if you're a guy until you're more experienced), side sit ups, leg lifts, prone hold (this one is particularly good and can be done while reading or watching TV) etc. With paralettes (guide to making them is in one of the links) you can do L sits, which are pretty cool and easy to "show off" almost anywhere outside. You can make them look easy and then when somebody tries it they totally can't. it also makes push ups and side prone holds easier (my wrists hurt a lot after practice, so it's easier to hold on to something instead of bending them 90 degrees against the floor.
There's also about a million kinds of push-ups that work various parts of the body.
If you have a rope, do climbs on it (without using your legs if your arms are string enough), once you're better at that, you can hold an L sit while climbing to work on multiple muscles at once.
You can work on your jumping muscles all sorts of ways with calf raises on a stair, to standing backflips on a small mat.
arms / shoulders, and some abs can be done with therabands (large rubberbands) with varying degrees of success and difficulty. As it stretches, the weight changes, so you have to "control" it very specifically: a bit different than static weights of "weight" training.
I don't recommend dips, as the dip bars they have in gyms is about 6" too wide and trains different muscles. More importantly, with it being so wide, I feel that it's easier to get injured.
One hold I particularly like, which can be done on a pull-up bar (which can be used for all sorts of things, pull-ups, wide pull-ups, L pull ups, muscle ups, anchor for theraband, etc etc.) is the "candlestick" hold. Really basically, its' holding yourself upside down on it, with your knees a few inches from the bar. Unfortunately, there's a lot more subtleties to the hold, as you have to keep tight in specific ways through your upper back. Done right, it can be one of the better things you can work. I'll have to find some pictures or whatever though. ('cause done wrong, you wont; get much out of it. it'll be too easy).
That's just off-hand some ideas. I recommend using this as a starting point to learn more. As always: safety first.
