Well I guess your personal anecdotes trump scientific studies of pro cyclist pedal strokes.

To be fair they were studying elite cyclists pedalling at a normal cadence at high power. The point was that they produced no power from their upstroke when pedalling at high power, even if their own perception was different.

I’m a big fan of clipless pedals for various reasons, but I can accept that they don’t actually increase my power output.

Riding a fixie in a huge gear might be different, but I don’t think it’s either relevant to the OP or a particularly good idea.