To examine differences in objective and subjective outcomes in outpatients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) performed for acute myocardial infarction versus cardiac surgery (CS) following a phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Longitudinal observational study of 437 consecutive cardiac outpatients after 8 weeks of phase II CR. Patients were divided into the PCI group (n = 281) and CS group (n = 156). Handgrip and knee extensor muscle strength, peak oxygen uptake VO₂, upper- and lower-body self-efficacy for physical activity (SEPA), and physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores as assessed by Short Form-36 were measured at 1 and 3 months after PCI or CS. All outcomes increased significantly between months 1 and 3 in both groups. However, increases were greater in the CS versus PCI group in handgrip strength (+12.3 % vs. +8.1%, P < 0.01), knee extensor muscle strength (+19.3% vs. +17.5%, P = 0.008), peak VO₂ (+20.9% vs. +16.9%, P < 0.01), upper-body SEPA (+27.7% vs. +9.2 vs. , P = 0.001), and PCS score (+6.5% vs. +4.1%, P = 0.001). Although this relatively short-term phase II CR increased all outcomes for both groups, outcomes showed the recovery process was different between the PCI and CS groups, slightly favoring CS patients. Furthermore, patents in the field of CR are presented.