  We experimentally realize protocols that allow to extract work beyond the
free energy difference from a single electron transistor at the single
thermodynamic trajectory level. With two carefully designed out-of-equilibrium
driving cycles featuring kicks of the control parameter, we demonstrate work
extraction up to large fractions of $k_BT$ or with probabilities substantially
greater than 1/2, despite zero free energy difference over the cycle. Our
results are explained in the framework of nonequilibrium fluctuation relations.
We thus show that irreversibility can be used as a resource for optimal work
extraction even in the absence of feedback from an external operator.
