I do it hard enough to feel a pump but not hard enough that I am afraid of bruising or busting anything. If you have any doubts, start softer and try to gradually increase your intensity. You should not feel incredibly sore afterward.
When I am done my dick sort of looks like it does right after I cum. It’s fully engorged but not hard. I also get somewhat like that when getting bombarded by the sun on the nude beach. Everything is just stretched out. However within half an hour or so, maybe sooner, everything looks to go back to “normal.” Since over a month at most you I’m looking at 1/10 of a inch of gain, or so, in any given workout you won’t have more than 1/150 of an inch gain. It’s not literally linear like that, but you get the point. You won’t be able to notice a huge difference within workout. You can think of it in terms of the baby steps analogy or the marathon versus sprint analogy, but either way expect it to take a bit of effort over a long period of time.
Start (Oct 2010) NBPEL: 5, BPEL: 5.875 inches, BASE GIRTH: 5.25 inches, MID GIRTH: 5
(November 2013) NBPEL: 5.875, BPEL: 6.625 inches, BASE GIRTH: 5.625 inches, MID GIRTH: 5
Goal NBPEL(7-7.5)xMEG(5.5-6) (journal)