Safest way to film repeated head-banging in a oner on a micro-budget?

I’m making a micro-budget, non-union indie horror short and trying to figure out the safest and most convincing way to execute a repeated head-impact gag within a oner.

The shot begins in the living room with the character at his computer, typing frantically as he becomes overtaken by a website. The camera then moves away and travels down the hallway into the bedroom, where his girlfriend is asleep.

We stay with her as the typing continues from the other room. Then we hear consecutive banging. She wakes up, gets out of bed, and we follow her back down the hallway into the living room, where we reveal that he is repeatedly driving his forehead into the desk.

I’d really like to preserve the continuous shot rather than breaking into close-ups. My first thought was to build or modify the impact area of the desk so it looks like real wood but is actually heavily padded, rubberized, or made from some kind of soft material.

For anyone with stunt coordination, practical effects, or low-budget horror experience:

What would be the safest way to rig this while keeping the shot continuous?

Is a padded prop desk the right approach, and what materials would you use to make the impact area read as real wood on camera?

At what point does something like this require a stunt coordinator? For a contained gag like this, what would they actually help design or supervise?

Any practical advice or material recommendations would be greatly appreciated.