I generally do 100-200 bokken cuts a night. Well, I did until I sprained my elbow a few weeks ago. I got out of the habit, since I thought I couldn't do them one-handed. I was wrong. My sensei had me do them one-handed at the dojo........that impressed several of my dojomates! Ha!
One weekend when I couldn't get to class, I had a goal of doing 1,000 cuts. So that Sunday night, I DID 1,000 cuts. I was pretty proud and my arms were not anywhere near as sore as I thought they'd be! So my cuts must be improving.
I know they are....I can tell when I do them. And I rarely get corrected on them anymore.
I don't think you can "speed the process along"....like ALL of Aikido, it just takes practice, practice, practice!